Hatsune Miku: Missing in Action
by Postquam est
Summary: Miku goes missing. Rin and Len are shut down. SeeU and Kaito are in Korea. Vocaloids are in danger of being shut down. Sequel to Hatsune Miku: Rising to Fame.
1. Interrupted Communications

**Hi! **

**This is in fact the sequel to "Hatsune Miku: Rising to Fame" but it's a lot different. So it's not necessary to read that story first, this just takes place in the same setting, after the events of the first story. The bad news about this story is that it'll take me longer to write chapters because I don't have them prewritten (I wanted to start this as soon as possible.) Enjoy!**

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><p>A short Utauloid with purple hair trudged down a hallway of the building dedicated to Vocaloid and Utauloid Education Program, eyes narrowed in thought.<p>

She was on her way to the big room with the stage, where Meiko, the Vocaloid in charge of pretty much everything that went on, would probably be making an announcement about the success of those Vocaloids everyone just _adored_: Hatsune Miku, Kagamine Rin and Len, and SeeU.

The girl sighed inwardly as she thought about how unfair this whole program was. Though no one actually said it, everyone knew that Utauloids would just never be as talented as Vocaloids, except for the one exception that came close in popularity, Kasane Teto.

"Eri!"

The girl froze in place before reluctantly turning around. "Go away, Kyooteru," she said, before she had even seen who had called her name. She didn't need to.

The boy that had called Eri tilted his head to the side. "Is that any way to treat your best friend?"

Eri turned away indignantly. "You're not my best friend anymore." She kept walking, but she closed her eyes in exasperation as she heard the taps of running footsteps behind her. She turned around abruptly, preparing to yell at Kyooteru Subaru, when she realized in a panic that he wasn't stopping.

She yelped in surprise as he ran into her, causing them both to topple onto the ground. "Subaru! I told you to go away!" she shrieked, trying to push the boy off her.

Subaru grinned, standing up. "You're pretty cute when you blush," he remarked, tapping his own cheek.

Eri was up in a flash, trying her best to look intimidating. "Shut up!" she yelled, brushing the hair out of her eyes. "Leave me alone, you stalker!" She turned and stomped the rest of the way to the auditorium, before relaxing slightly, hoping he was gone.

Glancing around, she spotted a girl with blonde hair wearing a pink jacket. She immediately recognized her closest friend, Uta Mai, and hurried to go sit next to her. Mai watched Eri, walking towards her, and smirked slightly. "Kyooteru?" she asked, seeing Eri's disgusted expression, and Eri nodded, frowning.

"He annoys me so much sometimes..." she complained.

"Well, I'm just glad it's not my problem," Mai said unsensitively.

Eri sighed. She knew Mai didn't mean it. She had never really been affected by Mai's comments, seeing how her own were just as uncaring. That may have been the very reason that they became good friends.

"Ma-i~!" A boy approached the two girls, smiling like an idiot, and sat down on the other side of Mai. "Are you having a bad hair day?"

Mai rolled her eyes. "Good to see you, too, Riku."

"Hey, I just wanted to see how it felt to be you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mai gave Riku a death glare, and he held his hands up in defense.

"You just always insult people, that's all..." Riku said quietly.

"Whatever, Miku."

"It's not my fault that I look like her! I don't know whose idea it was to make me look like her, but not mine!" Riku protested. "Even though she _is_ kinda cute," he added.

Eri frowned. Another thing that was unfair about being a Utauloid. Vocaloids were always the trendsetters, it seemed. When one of the Vocaloids or Utauloids gained consciousness in that white room where each intelligent robot was created, their design and vocal ability was already determined...

A Vocaloid with white hair stepped onto the stage and glanced around quickly, checking to see that the room was full. As she picked up a microphone, the room quieted down slightly, waiting to see what she would say.

"Hello," she seemed to be greeting the whole room. "Some of you know me, but for those of you who don't, I'm Yowane Haku, and I'll explain in a moment, but for now just know that I'll be in charge for a while, assisted by Akita Neru.

"Right as I speak, Meiko is on her way with Miku, Rin, and Len to make sure they're safe as they participate in their first concert in the USA! Luka is also traveling with them to perform a few songs, and since she has the best English pronunciation.

"Also, SeeU has been asked to go to South Korea for an interview, and she could possibly be in a concert in the future. Kaito, who you should all know from when you were new here, will be accompanying her.

"Since Kaito was Meiko's first pick to be in charge, but can't be here, Meiko has trusted me to be in charge. So I'll greatly appreciate your patience if you'll just bear with Neru and me, and Meiko or Kaito should be back within the next week. Thank you for your attention."

Haku put down the microphone and smiled before exiting the stage, causing the room to erupt in excited conversations. Eri glanced at Mai, who seemed to be somewhere between curiousity and reluctance to accept the "good news."

"Want to come to my room?" Eri said over the noise that filled the room. Mai nodded and the two got up and made their way out of the room.

Once in Eri's room, the two girls sighed simultaneously. "Do you think it's nice to be loved by so many people?" Eri asked. "Or even just be _known_ by so many people."

Mai shrugged. "Kyooteru loves you," she joked.

"He doesn't count. Besides, he'll probably stop bothering me soon," Eri mumbled.

"I doubt it. He even claims that you guys are best friends. I don't even see how that would be possible, though."

"It's because we were both created on the same day, and only us. So we kind of had to stick together for the first few lessons, and he wasn't so bad then. He got annoying after a week, though."

"You really should get more friends," Mai said, suddenly changing the subject and looking concerned. "You've been here for longer than even Miku, haven't you? And you still only have me, and sometimes Riku."

"Well, that would require me going out and making friends, which I don't want to do," Eri said firmly. She had to admit, it would be really easy, since the section of the building that the Vocaloids and Utauloids lived in was just a series of hallways lined by doors, each door being the entrance to a room that two Vocaloids or Utauloids would share. All it would take to make a friend or two would be knocking on a door and striking up a friendly conversation, since most were generally glad to make friends.

Mai sighed and walked over to the large window that covered the entire wall opposite to the door. There was one in every room, and each room showed slightly different scenery. Eri's window showed a small section of a beach, where it appeared to be very warm, as waves lapped at the shore with the setting sun glinting off of them.

Just then, Eri's roommate, Mommo Ran, walked into the room. Seeing Mai, she tilted her head and smiled. "Oh, hi, Mai," she greeted.

Mai made a small sound in acknowledgement, lost in thought. Eri turned to Ran. "You've met Miku once before, haven't you?" she asked.

"Mm, yeah, she seemed nice."

Eri sat down on her own bed and looked back at Mai. "I wish I had met her. She seems to have such an exciting life, going to concerts and recording multiple songs every day. I wonder how she keeps up with it..."

Ran looked a little bit downcast. "I wish I could even record one song. Just one. I don't know why I was even created, if no one wants to use me."

Eri glanced back at Ran, feeling slight pity. "Oh well. Nothing we can really do about it."

"Except make some more friends," Mai interjected. "You might be a bit happier."

There was silence for a moment, and then Mai turned away from the window and started to leave. "I'm going to go back to my own room now, K? If I see Kyooteru, I'll tell him you need some company."

Eri groaned. "What's her obsession with Subaru?" she asked out loud. Ran gave a small laugh and shrugged.

"He's likeable, you have to give him that."

"No. Just no," Eri said, crossing her arms and letting herself fall backwards onto her bed. Ran walked over to her own bed and lay down, closing her eyes to sleep, not caring what time it was.

Eri sighed, half-expecting a knock on the door from Subaru at any moment. There wasn't one, however, and Eri lost track of how long she spent just lying on her bed, motionless, with nothing to do. It really did seem pointless, to her, to be created for such a boring lifestyle. If no one wanted her to sing songs for them, she didn't see why she needed to continue to exist.

. . .

Eri awoke in the morning, unaware that she had fallen asleep in the first place, but fairly unbothered by that. Without checking to see if Ran was still in the room or not, because she really didn't care, Eri left her room and made her way down the halls, just as she had done nearly every day after she woke up for a long time.

She walked the familiar route of hallways and corners before coming to the room that she hardly ever gotten to use, but often spent time in anyway. She stepped into the recording room and quietly closed the door behind her, before she paused, still facing the door, to listen to see if anyone was singing at the moment.

The recording room was the room in which Vocaloids and Utauloids sang the songs that appeared on their beds, in the form of a piece of paper with written instructions on how to sing the song. Most Vocaloids would get quite a few songs a day, along with a few popular Utauloids, while the rest of them would be lucky to get a couple songs a month.

There was no one currently singing, and Eri turned around and found herself face to face with Subaru. She jumped with surprise, causing Subaru to break into a grin.

"Did I scare you?" he asked, smiling gleefully.

Eri narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing here?" she asked, ignoring his question.

Subaru pretended to look sad. "I thought the whole reason you came was to meet me here," he said, poking Eri's shoulder.

Eri brushed her shoulder off and scowled as she saw Subaru waiting for her retort. "No, actually, I come here every morning," she asserted in a belittling tone.

"I know."

Eri stared at Subaru. "Gee, that's not creepy at all," she finally said sarcastically.

Subaru looked at Eri as if he was examining her, before breaking into a smile at her uncomfortable expression. "Yes, well, I'd like to know why you do that," he said.

"Why's it even matter to you..." Eri mumbled, glaring at Subaru. "If you know I come here every morning, you obviously know why."

Subaru tapped the corner of his mouth, looking thoughtful. "To stalkerishly listen to other Vocaloids and Utauloids record songs and then sing them as if you were the one who had gotten them?"

Eri said nothing as she shifted her gaze to a random corner of the room, trying to ignore Subaru and wishing he would go away.

"Ahah, you're blushing again," Subaru announced.

Eri looked back at Subaru. She stared him down for a moment, before deciding that was the last straw. Bringing her hand up, she gave Subaru a moment to register what she was about to do, then, with a smirk, slapped him as hard as she could.

"Leave me alone, Kyooteru," she said coldly, before leaving the room and walking quickly down the hall. She arrived at the door she knew belonged to Mai and her roommate and knocked urgently.

Mai opened the door, and, seeing that it was Eri, moved out of the way so that Eri could enter. "What'd you do now?" she asked, reading Eri's expression.

"I just...slapped Subaru..." Eri said, somewhat surprised at herself. "I mean, yeah, I've been mean to him, but I've never just slapped him..."

Mai raised her eyebrows. "Do you feel bad?"

"Not really..."

"Why were you talking to him anyway?" Mai asked curiously.

"He somehow figured out that I like to sit in the recording room in the morning and listen to songs, and decided to wait for me there today," Eri explained, frowning as she was reminded of how he must know how desperate she was to sing.

"Oh. Well I'll just assume that you had the rightful judgement in that, then," Mai said simply. "Why don't you go back? He might be gone by now."

"I think I'll just wait until tomorrow morning. There was no one in there anyway, so it doesn't matter," Eri decided. "I think I'm going to go back to my own room now."

Mai laughed a little bit. "Ok, you do that. Glad to be of some help," she said somewhat sarcastically, though she didn't mind Eri's random yet consistently numerous short visits throughout the day.

Eri left and returned to her own room, already bored, even when it was only morning. Ran greeted her shortly, and Eri sat down in a chair next to the window, staring at the less-than-perfect ocean.

"What do you think would happen if everyone's favorite Vocaloids suddenly ceased to exist? Would more Utauloids get used?" Eri asked Ran. "I sometimes wish that would happen, just to see what it would be like to be the ones in the center of attention."

Ran closed her eyes and smiled. "Mm. It could be possible," she replied. "I doubt it, though," she added, opening her eyes with a glint of mischief.

"I just really wish I got more songs to sing. I'm tired of singing other Vocaloids' and Utauloids' songs."

Eri flinched slightly as she heard Haku's voice coming from speakers in the ceiling. "We have good news from Meiko in the USA. They've landed safely, and are currently staying in a hotel. More updates to come."

Eri sighed. She partially hated the day that Meiko had the great idea to update everyone else on the performers' activities, ever since they had started sightseeing a little bit at each concert. It just reminded everyone else about the opportunities they'd never get to have.

Eri spent the rest of the day thinking of stories in her head. She had found that was the only suitable way to spend her time. She had figured that if she just imagined futures that catered to her wishes, she could add little details here and there and find herself with quite an interesting story.

Eventually she got tired and went to bed, mentally noting that yet another useless day had passed.

. . .

"Again. You're here again. Why?"

Eri found herself staring at Subaru yet again in the recording room the following morning. She was nearly beside herself with annoyance.

Subaru nodded. "You didn't really tell me why you come here everyday."

Before either one of them could do anything else, Haku's voice resounded throughout the room, causing Eri to look up. "Only one day until the concert! Meiko says she'll be making the best of it with Miku, Rin, Len, and Luka. Remember, we'll be playing her concert live on the speakers here, so you can look forward to that."

Eri looked back at Subaru. "That's why. I'm so sick of having a pointless existence while some Vocaloids are having the time of their lives constantly. I never get to sing. No one wants to hear me sing, so I figure I might as well sing when no one has to, even if my voice is terrible."

Subaru looked thoughtful again. "And you feel the need to do this every morning?"

Eri avoided eye contact while she nodded.

Subaru smiled. "Well, I support you 100%," he said cheerfully.

"Of course you do," Eri mumbled.

Subaru pretended he hadn't heard her. "No one's in here right now, but you still know songs from previous days, right? Feel free to sing those," he said, sitting down on a couch that was in the room and leaning back, looking expectant.

"I don't want to."

"Yes you do. You just don't want me to hear. The thing is, I've heard you before, you just didn't know it. So what's the big deal now, hm?" Subaru asked, his tone slightly challenging.

"The day that I sing knowing you can hear me is the day I publish a book," Eri retorted. "It's not happening."

Subaru appeared interested. "You still like to write? I thought you gave up on your journal," he said.

Eri rolled her eyes, remembering the journal she had kept for about a week after being created. "I stopped writing down what happened to me in reality because that was boring. Yes, for your information, I do still like to write. In my head. About made up things that could happen in the future."

"Am I in your made up story?" Subaru asked, smiling cheerfully.

"Yeah, locked in your room forever."

"Hm. That's not very fun," Subaru remarked. "Well, we've made progress today. Good talk, and I'll meet you back here again tomorrow morning." Subaru pretended to formally offer his hand to Eri to shake, but she rejected it with a cold glare. Subaru shrugged and made his way out the door.

"Don't you dare come back tomorrow!" Eri called after him. She groaned, knowing he probably would anyway. "Well, I just won't come back here," she decided out loud.

. . .

Contrary to her original resolution, Eri found herself going back to the recording room the next day, after being encouraged by Mai, much to her disliking. Sure enough, Subaru was waiting for her on the couch. He greeted her with a surprised smile.

"That was pretty fast. I didn't expect you to get bored for at least another few hours," he remarked.

Eri pressed her palm to her forehead. "You would've waited here for hours? You really are a stalker."

"Hm, well, I knew you'd come, anyway."

"Why are you so persistent all of the sudden? You haven't talked to me this much for at least a few months. Sure, you bugged me quite a few times, but why do you keep coming back?" Eri asked in exasperation.

"Funny, I was going to ask the same of you," Subaru replied with a grin.

"I'm serious."

"It seems unfair that you don't have to answer your own question, but fine. I'm here because I ran out of other girls to annoy."

"Don't act like you know girls," Eri said coldly.

"I ran out of other boys to annoy."

"Now you're just lying," Eri said, her voice rising with annoyance. "Fine! Don't give me a reason. But if you can't give me a reason, stop bothering me!"

Subaru looked slightly nervous. "Well if I gave you the real reason, you might have second thoughts about certain other people's loyalty."

Eri thought for a moment. "You mean this wasn't your idea?"

"Maybe."

"Ok, well if someone just wants me to spend time with your or something, fine. You have to stay with me for the rest of the day, got it? All the way until Miku's concert. You can go back to your own room when it's over. By that time, you'll have proof for whoever made you do this that you got me to spend time with you," Eri decided.

"Uh, it's not exactly like..." Subaru trailed off, then shrugged his shoulders. "Ok," he agreed after a second thought. "If it'll make you happy."

Eri, satisfied with her plan, marched out of the recording room, determined to at least leave Subaru bored out of his mind by the end of the day. Subaru followed, not sure if he should be happy or scared.

As the day progressed with Eri doing nothing but staring out her window with Subaru sitting next to her, clueless of what to do, and Ran occasionally checking up on them out of curious amusement, an announcement finally came on the speakers.

"For unexplained reasons, our connections with Meiko have been eliminated. This means that we will not be able to let you listen to the concert live, and it also means that Meiko and/or Miku, Rin, Len, and Luka may be in an unplanned situation. Please don't panic, we will be doing our best to figure this out, but just know that the singers may not be returning as soon as we had hoped. Thank you for your attention."

Eri looked at Subaru for the first time nearly all day. "Doesn't Meiko usually communicate announcements and updates using their airplane pilot/guide's cellphone to email the computer in Kaito's classroom? I mean, I know she can't get the concert to us live like that, but if Haku can't get a hold of Meiko at all, that means something has at least happened to their guide."

Subaru shrugged. "I don't know, I've never heard anything like that."

"Oh, well I was curious once so I decided to check it out. What if something happened to the Vocaloids?" Eri asked, a small edge of panic growing in her voice.

Ran, who was currently in the room, laughed softly. "Didn't you say you sometimes wished that would happen? Just to see what it would be like?"

Subaru looked from Ran to Eri. "Was that what happened in one of your made up futures? What happened in it?"

"I don't know. I couldn't think of a good enough future without Vocaloids."

Subaru tilted his head in worry. "Well then, considering your imagination, this could be bad."


	2. Disappearance of Rin and Len Kagamine?

**Chapter 2! Yes it was fast, but I already had it half-written when I posted chapter 1. But hopefully I'll get the third chapter out pretty quick because it's spring break for me :D Well, enjoy!**

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><p>The next day was an anxious one for Vocaloids and Utauloids alike, as everyone waited for any sign of the return of Meiko, Luka, Miku, Rin, and Len. No one expected them to return before midday, but there were always multiple Vocaloids and Utauloids in the hallways, unable to do anything else. There had never been an interruption in communication before.<p>

Having told Subaru he could go back to his own room early the previous day, Eri spent her time with Mai as they waited for an announcement about the famed singers. Riku had also joined them, and they sat together in Mai's room, coming up with possible reasons that the communication had gone down.

"What if their guide got lost?" Riku suggested.

Mai and Eri both stared at him as if he were stupid. "I think the point of being a guide is that you don't get lost," Mai said.

"Well maybe the guide doesn't know his way around the USA," Riku countered.

"He could still contact us here though," Eri pointed out. "He would have to lose his phone, have his phone taken away, or have his phone broken. Those options don't affect the guide, though, so everyone should be fine, right?" she reasoned.

"I guess so," Mai agreed. "Do you want to go out into the hallways now, since it's around noon anyway? We'll find out sooner if we're outside our room."

Eri and Riku nodded and the three made their way out the door. The crowd forming in the halls had grown as the day went on, and most had just found a spot to sit until further news arrived.

Only twenty minutes after finding a spot in the hall to sit down, a shout could be heard down the hall. In the next instant, a Vocaloid that Eri recognized as Neru appeared at the end of the hallway. "Luka, Rin, and Len are back!" she announced.

Suddenly everyone was trying to talk at once. Some were relieved that they were back, and others were wondering where Meiko and Miku were. Eri glanced at Mai and Riku, who looked equally confused.

"Did I miss something?" Eri said loudly to them over the rising panic. "Were they coming back separately or something?"

Mai and Riku shrugged. "Based on the way Neru said it, I don't think this was supposed to happen!" Mai yelled back.

Many Utauloids and Vocaloids were standing up, so Eri, Mai, and Riku stood too, to avoid getting trampled. Eri grabbed Mai's wrist. "Follow me, we can probably get more information if we go to where Neru is," she instructed, starting to pull Mai towards the end of the hall.

Eri and Mai ran, leaving Riku behind, and followed the blonde haired Vocaloid as she walked through the confused crowd that had gathered. Pushing through Vocaloids and Utauloids, Eri and Mai saw Neru meet up with Haku near a door which was labeled exit. Rin, Len, and Luka were also there, looking slightly uncomfortable at all of the questions being thrown at them.

"I don't think we'll get to hear anything that everybody else doesn't already know," Mai said, scooting to lean against the wall as Neru tried to make a pathway for Rin and Len to go back to their room. Eri sighed.

"I guess not. Maybe Haku will make some sort of announcement soon? Do you want to go to the auditorium since no one else is there, just to wait for a while until the excitement dies down?" Eri suggested.

Mai agreed and the two backtracked and went the rest of the way to the auditorium, where chairs were still set up. Eri and Mai sat down and thought through the sudden events of the day.

"So first we lose communication with our most famous singers," Eri started.

"Then we find out that Miku and Meiko are missing, but nobody's telling us anything," Mai finished.

"They might not even know anything themselves," Eri added. "That would be bad. Think about what would happen if Miku got kidnapped or something. We're technically robots, right? Incredibly advanced and not physically like robots, yes, but still under the category of robots, which means we could be turned off or something, right?"

Mai looked thoughtful. "That's a good point. I wonder if Haku and Neru will send Rin and Len back to figure out where Miku and Meiko went."

"Well, that's assuming that Miku is actually lost. Neru only announced who had returned, so maybe Miku and Meiko are just staying a little bit longer. After all, it _is_ a country that they've never been to before. They could be at an interview like SeeU," Eri decided.

"Why'd you guys leave me?"

Eri and Mai turned to see Riku making a displeased face at them. Mai rolled her eyes.

"You were too slow," Mai answered. "Besides, we're not going to figure anything out. Let's just go back to someone's room. Eri, you want to volunteer? Your room _is_ the closest," she suggested.

Eri shrugged and the three walked back to Eri's room, listening for any sort of announcement that could shed a little bit of light on what was going on. After half an hour of shocked silence, Eri looked back and forth between her two friends before sighing.

"This is really boring. Do you think Neru or Haku will even announce anything? What if they're just going to keep this a secret, to the agonizing anticipation of everybody else? Yet Rin and Len's friends will know, I'm sure," Eri complained.

"You know, instead of doing nothing while we wait for an imaginary announcement, how about we pretend this never happened and go back to our normal activities?" Riku suggested, somewhat sarcastically.

Eri got up and stormed over to where Riku was sitting. "In case you haven't noticed," she hissed, " our _normal activities_ happen to be NOTHING! We have _nothing _to do. We have _nothing_ to sing. We have _nothing _to exist for. We are practically _nothing_. I was kind of hoping that maybe this would be a chance to do _something_. Maybe it would just be another one of my made-up stories that will never ever happen, but I thought maybe this incident would give me _something _to do."

There was silence for a moment, and then Mai shifted uncomfortably. "I'll be right back," she said quietly, before making her way out the door and into the hallway where some conversations could still be heard about the events of the day.

Five minutes of icy silence later, there was a knock on the door. Eri got up and answered it, hoping that Mai was back.

Her hopes were smashed to bits and thrown off a cliff when she saw Subaru standing in front of her.

"What do you want?" she asked coldly. Subaru flinched at her sudden words, looking less laid back than he usually did.

"I think...you should continue your journal..." he said slowly, as if he had to think through his words one at a time.

"Why should I care what you think?" she asked, not breaking her cold stare.

Subaru opened his mouth slightly, trying to think of something to say, but gave up. "I don't know," he said cluelessly. "But, I think you want to continue it," he said, grinning suddenly.

Eri narrowed her eyes. "I don't," she insisted firmly, before shutting the door in Subaru's face. She turned around with a huff, only to remember that Riku was still in the room. "Out," she said, pointing to the door. Riku obediently got up and left, secretly satisfied to get away from Eri.

Eri watched him leave the room, and then collapsed on her own bed, covering her face with her hands. Rolling onto her stomach, she stared at her pillow before propping herself up on her elbows and sliding one hand under it. With a sigh she pulled out a small purple book and opened it to the first page.

Her eyes moved swiftly across the page, taking in everything she had written a very long time ago.

_"Day 1:_

_Hello. My name is Rizumu Eri. A few days ago, I was created. It was just today that I learned how to speak and read, and therefore write. I'm a Utauloid, even though I'm not sure why I feel the need to tell you. No one that's not an Utauloid or Vocaloid will ever read this anyway... But I'll write about it anyway. I live in a large building with lots of rooms, where different Vocaloids and Utauloids live together. There aren't very many of us, but Meiko, the Vocaloid in charge, says there will be more to come._

_I like to sing. I got one song to sing today. I really hope more people decide to use me. Then I can write all about it in here, my journal. Most Vocaloids and Utauloids don't write, but Meiko said that everybody has a different way they like to pass the time, and I guess this is mine._

_My best friend Kyooteru Subaru was created on the same day as me, and so that's why we're best friends. I'll probably make more friends though. Well, I'll see about it tomorrow. Bye~"_

_"Day 2:_

_**Heeey, this is Subaru! :D My best friend Eri is pretty stupid someti**_

_Please excuse that idiot. He doesn't know what he's saying, and decided he would try to write in my journal. Thankfully, I have taken my pen back. Now, I'll tell you about today._

_Meiko said that this program is still getting started, and there will be a lot of different classes in the future, but I only learned how to sing, speak, read, and write. I don't know what else there is to learn; maybe it's something more advanced. I'm ok with that though._

_I didn't get any songs today, but that's ok. I don't expect to get too many. Maybe just one a week or something like that? :) I really like this place. It's really exciting, knowing I'm part of something that might get really popular. I'm proud to be one of the first ones to be created. Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet anyone today, because Subaru was too busy trying to make up a story (which he completely failed at.)_

_Well, bye~"_

Eri frowned. Why had she been so different back then? It was like reading a stranger's journal, but she kept reading. She suddenly couldn't remember what had made her stop writing. Her past self seemed so happy.

"_Day 3:_

_Today Subaru decided it would be funny to give me a fake song. (Just so you know, a song for a Utauloid like me is a piece of paper or multiple sheets with the lyrics and musical notes on it that shows up on your bed~) So I saw some sheets of paper on my bed and started jumping up and down but then Subaru killed it by telling me it was a fake while laughing hysterically :(_

_But it's ok because Subaru is still my friend and I_

Eri jumped as Ran entered the room. Quickly, she stuffed the book back under her pillow and tried to look like she had been doing nothing. Ran didn't seem to care or notice.

"So, did you figure out anything besides the fact that Rin and Len are back?" Eri asked casually.

Ran shook her head. "I guess Haku and Neru don't plan to say anything else," she remarked.

Eri rolled onto her side and looked out the window, where the sun had nearly disappeared. She sighed and closed her eyes, deciding she would have to wait until the next day to read the rest of her journal entries.

. . .

Eri trudged to the recording room in the morning, trying to sort out what her memory told her had happened the previous day. She opened the door to the recording room's waiting area quietly, and realized with a fleeting moment of happiness that someone was singing. After listening for a moment, she decided it was Neru, and settled down on the couch to listen.

Not even a minute later, the door was flung open and Haku ran into the room, looking flustered. Realizing that Neru was in midsong, she leaned against the door, looking like she had just sprinted around the whole building.

Eri was frozen, not wanting to seem weird, but Haku didn't seem to notice her. Luckily, the awkward moment ended a minute later, when Neru finished her song and came out of the recording area. Seeing Haku's face, she immediately looked alarmed.

"What happened?" she asked urgently. "Did something happen to Miku?"

Haku shook her head. "They still don't know where she is. But now...now...just follow me!" she said frantically, opening the door and waiting for Neru to move. After the two made their way out the door, Eri immediately stood and peeked out after them. Deciding on an instant, she started to follow the two Vocaloids.

Eri was confused. She had always heard that Haku had the calmest personality possible, but now she was acting like the building was on fire. Which, it didn't appear to be. Eri followed them blindly, not recognizing the section of the building they were travelling through.

Neru stopped at a door that was propped open, and gasped. She went inside with Haku, and Eri took that as her chance to get closer. She ran up next to the door and flattened herself against the wall. With extreme caution, she slowly turned her head to look inside the room.

First, she saw Haku and Neru, both looking at the single bed that was in the room, and then she had to stop herself from gasping as she saw Rin and Len, lying motionless. It wasn't weird that they were so still; after all, they could have been sleeping. The weird thing was that the arm warmers and leg warmers that they wore were glowing a faint red.

Haku was speaking to Neru. "I came to check on them, since I was worried that they might be sad about Miku, and I think...I think they've been shut down."

Neru bent down to examine the glowing section of Rin's arm warmers more closely. "It says system failure," she said, her face clouded with worry.

"The door was open, so that I could have access to them if they needed help, but I don't think a Vocaloid or Utauloid could do this," Haku said, seeming to regain some of her composure.

"You think...the creators shut them down?"

Haku frowned slightly. "I'm wondering..."

"What?" Neru asked impatiently.

Haku thought for a moment. "Well, think about Rin and Len's loyalty to Miku. If the creators of Vocaloid were aware of that, which they may very well be, they could be cautious of Rin and Len trying to find Miku, which could possibly lead to them disappearing too. If it's only temporary, but it might be for the best," she said reasonably.

Neru looked like she wanted to argue, but then sighed. "Sure, it's safe for them, but what about Miku? Someone has to figure out where she and Meiko are!"

"We can't just send the entire Vocaloid and Utauloid Education Program out on a search party, we don't exactly look like normal people," Haku said. "And I'm not sure it's wise to tell everyone about Miku's disappearance anyway."

"You want to send some of us out though, don't you," Neru said, trying to read Haku's expressions.

"I don't know," Haku admitted. "I really do want to make sure Miku's ok, but what if the creators realize this and shut us down too? I don't know if we're that important, but we're still valuable technology that would cause a bit of commotion, were we to be gone."

Eri had been watching up until this point with growing fear of the situation. If the popular Vocaloids got shut down, there could be chaos, especially since Meiko, the leader of the program, was missing too. Eri took a deep breath and stepped into sight at the doorway, still questioning her decisions.

"You could send some Vocaloids and some Utauloids," she said, and waited for Haku or Neru to yell at her to go away. They just seemed mildly surprised that she was there, so Eri continued to explain.

"I'm sure you'd want to take Vocaloids because they're better leaders than Utauloids just naturally, but if you take some Utauloids that aren't very well known, there would be less attention drawn, and also, if the creators shut you down, the Utauloids could continue the search."

Despite the fact that Eri had just appeared from obviously spying on the two Vocaloids, Neru and Haku seemed to consider the idea. After an awkward silence, Haku studied Eri for a moment and then spoke.

"And which Utauloids do you think we should take?" she asked, a small smile appearing on her lips.

Eri was slightly taken aback. She hadn't expected her idea to work. Trying to convince herself that it wasn't selfish, she listed her small number of friends. "Uta Mai. Mommo Ran. Tatsune Riku. And..." Eri paused, trying to figure out why she was about to list the last name. "Kyooteru Subaru."

Haku nodded, even though Eri was sure she didn't have a clue who those Utauloids were. "Neru, contact Kaito. We'll need his advice, even though he can't come back for a while," Haku instructed. Neru produced a phone from somewhere inside her arm warmer and started typing away at the keys.

Haku listed off a couple of Vocaloids to take. "I think we should take Gumi, because she seems to be fairly adept at figuring things out. We can take IA, because she's even calmer than me, and if anyone can calm down a group, it's her. Yuki is smart, and I really want to take her, but she'd be really easy to kidnap if we were in a tight situation. As much as I love Yuki, I think we need someone more capable of defending themselves or their friends, in other words, a male Vocaloid. So I think the last one should be Hiyama Kiyoteru."

"Kiyoteru? He doesn't seem like he'd be that tough," Neru said nervously, looking up from the phone she was holding.

Haku shrugged. "If he just takes off his glasses, he could look tough I suppose."

"Yeah and about looks, how do you plan to make us blend in? We're...robots.." Neru continued to worry.

"My friend Ran knows magic," Eri volunteered quickly. "She might be able to give us a human appearance."

"Magic?" Neru asked incredulously. "That's pretty cool. How does she know magic?"

"Character item," Eri answered shortly, getting impatient. "Now where are we supposed to start?"

"Well, once we gather our search party, we need to make some announcements to explain our absense, which will be hard, and then we need to figure out how to work an airplane," Haku explained.

"How to work an airplane?" Eri asked flatly. "You don't know how? Isn't that really bad?"

"Like I said, Gumi's pretty smart," Haku responded.

Eri was still skeptical. "If you say so," she mumbled. "I'll go get my friends now and tell them about the plan. You're sure it's ok for us to come?"

Haku laughed. "You're the one who suggested the idea, aren't you?" Eri opened her mouth to answer before closing it again, knowing an answer was pointless. Haku continued. "I'll try to come up with an announcement; wish me luck. Neru, go gather the Vocaloids while Eri gets the Utauloids. We'll meet by the exit. Eri, you remember where that is right?"

Eri nodded, and the three started to leave, and the door had almost closed when Haku stopped it.

"Wait," she said, and Neru and Eri turned around to face her. "Do you think we should take Rin and Len, in case they start functioning again? It would be mean to leave them confused like this," Haku suggested, looking back at Rin and Len's helpless forms.

Eri remembered that Haku was personally a friend of Rin and Len, and agreed to help Haku move Rin and Len to the exit door. Neru also agreed, and Haku carried Len on her back while Neru and Eri supported Rin between themselves.

They made their way as quickly as possible to the door with the weight of the two shut down Vocaloids slowing them down. Luckily, no one saw them, and Haku opened the door and put Len down on pavement outside that Eri had never seen.

Eri and Neru set Rin down and then parted ways to go do what was necessary of each of them.

Eri ran back to her room, and sure enough, she found Ran apparently drawing without a pen. Distracted for a moment, Eri watched in fascination as lines formed on a sheet of paper in front of Ran without her even touching the paper. Eri shook her head and refocused herself.

"Ran," she said urgently, and Ran stopped 'drawing.' "I need your help. I don't know that I have time to explain now, but I need your magic abilities, so follow me. We have a few other stops to make before I can explain, but just trust me, ok?" Eri said, the excitement of the situation starting to register in her mind.

Ran nodded and Eri led the way to Mai's room. After going through a similar invitation, the three headed to Riku and Subaru's room, since they were roommates. Finally, Eri could make her way back to the exit, breathless with anticipation. She still hadn't heard Haku's announcement, so she knew she still had time, but she wanted to hurry anyway.

In a sudden realization, Eri stopped in her tracks near the exit. Turning to her friends, she opened her mouth to speak. "I...need to go get something that I forgot. Wait just a little bit, ok?" she said, leaving her friends still confused.

Eri found herself strongly desiring her journal. This was the excitement she had always wanted to write about, wasn't it?

Once Eri had retrieved the journal and a pen, she went back to the exit and explained the situation to Ran, Mai, Subaru, and Riku. Before any of them had time to ask questions, Neru appeared with Gumi, IA, Kiyoteru, whom Eri had never seen before, and...Luka.

"Luka is still functioning and wanted to help search for Miku," Neru explained, answering the unspoken question. "I guess we're kind of defeating the original goal of shutting Rin and Len down so they wouldn't search for Miku, but that's ok."

The ten singers stepped outside to wait for Haku, and Riku, Subaru, and Kiyoteru carried Rin and Len to the airplane that was sitting outside. A matter of minutes later, Haku showed up.

"What'd you tell them?" Neru asked curiously.

"That you and I were going away and that Teto was in charge. I hope it's not too sudden for Teto..." Haku said with concern. Looking up at the plane she smiled. "Ahah, it worked," she remarked.

Everybody looked at the plane, even though they had already seen it.

"What worked?" Gumi asked, speaking for the first time in front of everyone.

"Eh, I messed around with Kaito's computer a bit and managed to figure out how to get that," Haku said, indicating the plane. "After all, he produced a road roller for Rin and Len, so this isn't much worse," she added, laughing.

The eleven Vocaloids and Utauloids made their way to the plane, where Gumi and Haku immediately went to work at figuring out the control panel. Ran joined them, in case they couldn't figure out how to work the plane.

Apparently, Ran's assistance was needed, because she stayed in the small compartment at the front of the plane. Eri hugged her journal and a pen close to her as she eyed the others that were still standing in the aisle of the plane, unsure of what to do.

Eri's eyes traveled from one to the next. Luka had taken a seat at the front with Rin and Len next to her, Kiyoteru was looking out the plane's small windows, Neru was studying a safety pamphlet that had apparently come with the plane, Mai and Riku were speaking to each other in whispers, IA was starting to sit down, and Subaru was smiling at Eri's journal.

Eri took a second to realize this, and immediately put her journal behind her back, feeling her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. This only made Subaru's smile widen, and Eri huffed as she sat down and stared out the window.

With a sudden jolt she realized the plane was moving. Haku appeared at the end of the aisle as everyone quickly found a seat. She smiled. "First stop, South Korea, for some help from Kaito," she announced, and Eri clutched her journal and pen tightly, watching out the window as the ground got further and further away.

* * *

><p><strong>Ohohoho. We have some new characters in the story. Yay. And there are more to come... ;)<strong>

**Well, more character development in the next chapter xD**


	3. Flying: It Gets Boring

**Yay, new chapter. Next chapter won't be out for at least a week and a half, because I'll be travelling for the next week. The reason this chapter wasn't out sooner was because I was crying over Clannad again -_- I only looked at one funny clip on Youtube and then... well... I just had to watch the entire thing. Gah.**

**Well, enjoy.**

* * *

><p>Of course, Subaru had to take his seat on the plane right next to Eri. Eri huffed and squeezed herself as close to the window as she could, staring at the horizon without really seeing anything. She could just feel Subaru smiling next to her, and she tensed up without realizing it.<p>

She flinched when she felt a poke in her side. Whipping around to face Subaru, Eri glared as hard as she could. Subaru didn't do so much as even flinch. After a couple moments, Eri dropped her gaze and sighed.

"Go away," she said, resorting to more verbal warnings.

"Make me," Subaru teased.

"You wouldn't want that," Eri replied icily.

"I don't think you'd do it."

"You'd be wrong."

"So why haven't you done anything yet?"

Eri and Subaru stared at each other; Eri was glaring, and Subaru was almost smirking.

"Ok, that's it, I'm leaving," Eri mumbled angrily. She got up and pushed past Subaru and headed towards the front of the plane. Finding Gumi and Ran at the controls, she tentatively tried to get Gumi's attention.

"Um, Gumi?" she asked, and Gumi turned around. "Where are we going to land this?"

"Kaito had made a last minute arrangement for us to land in Seoul, and from there we can get a plane to Honolulu," Gumi answered.

"Where is Honolulu? And...do you know how to land a plane?"

"It's an island that's part of the USA. Ran can take care of landing. We got this, don't worry," Gumi assured with a smile. "And the flight is two hours, so we still have quite a while to go."

"Ok, thank you," Eri said before leaving.

Eri wandered down the aisle of the plane, determined not to sit next to Subaru, and instead sat down next to the Vocaloid that Eri assumed was Kiyoteru.

"Hi," she greeted, trying to go out of her comfort zone for the sake of someone besides Subaru to talk to.

"Hey," Kiyoteru responded. "What's your name?"

"Rizumu Eri," she said. "What's yours?" she asked, even though she knew the answer.

"Hiyama Kiyoteru," he said, and waited for Eri to say something. Seeing that she was rather unsure of what to say, he smiled and continued. "Are you excited about this? I mean, I know we shouldn't be excited, and more focused for Miku's sake, but it's still really exciting to go somewhere new, don't you think?" he said with eargerness.

"Yeah, I guess," Eri replied, glancing at her journal, which she realized she had been holding the whole time. Kiyoteru saw her look and brightened up.

"You like to write?" he asked happily.

"You could say that..." she said unsurely.

"Well I like to read," he said, grinning. "If you ever care to let me," he offered.

Eri was slightly taken aback. "I...I mean it's a work in progress...but maybe later? After we've done more 'exciting' stuff," she said, managing to smile. Kiyoteru nodded, and as Eri opened her journal to write, he looked somewhere else respectfully so that she wouldn't be uncomfortable.

Eri flipped to a random empty page, not bothering to go back and read what she had written before, and immediately started writing, suddenly feeling confident and significantly happier than she had felt in a while.

_"Day (?):_

_Well, today I'm apparently off on an 'adventure.' Why? Because the famous Vocaloid Hatsune Miku has gone missing. The last time she was seen, or heard of, was in California, a state in the USA. Not very many of the Vocaloids and Utauloids know about it, only a select few, and we are going to rescue her. If all goes well, we'll save Miku, not to mention Meiko, who is also very important._

_See, I'm going to give you a little bit of background information here. Neru and Haku were put in charge after Meiko left with Miku, Rin, Len, and Luka to go hold a concert. Kaito went to supervise SeeU in South Korea, where she is currently being interviewed by different people for a series of days. Unfortunately, Neru and Haku lost connection with Meiko, and the next day, only Rin, Len, and Luka showed up._

_At that point, the only ones who knew anything were Neru, Haku, and the performers. The rest of us were lost and confused. However, in a stroke of luck, I managed to overhear Neru and Haku discover that Rin and Len had been shut down. Suddenly, I spoke without even knowing it, and suggested that we form a search party to find Miku for Rin and Len, who had been shut down for safety reasons._

_I got to pick some friends, and Haku picked some of her own friends. For Utauloids, we have me, my best friend Mai, Mai's odd friend Riku, my roommate Ran, and the complete and total annoyance that is Subaru. Why Subaru? Well, because I don't know, ok?_

_For Vocaloids, we have Haku and Neru of course, Luka has decided to come along, then there's Gumi, IA, and Kiyoteru. I don't know much about any of them, but I just had a short conversation with Kiyoteru. He seems very nice :) I guess it might be a good idea after all to make friends with these Vocaloids. Well, I'll tell you how it turns out later, bye."_

Eri stared at what she had written. A small feeling of happiness fluttered within her. She realized she sounded exactly the same as she had the first time she had written, and this time she wrote even more. She snapped her book shut and shrugged, ok with the sudden change in attitude within herself.

Within a matter of minutes, she found herself dozing off, and the only connection to reality that she could still feel was the book in her hand.

. . .

"Attention! We will be landing in the next ten minutes," a voice, apparently Gumi's, announced, and Eri sleepily opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, trying to figure out what she was looking at. As she started to remember that she was on a plane, she felt a rush of panic as she realized she was leaning against something.

Eri quickly moved away from Kiyoteru, whose eyes were revealing a smile that his mouth wasn't.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" Eri cried, feeling her cheeks redden. "I didn't mean to fall asleep on you!"

Kiyoteru laughed. "It's ok, I would expect it from a girl like you," he teased.

Eri scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, feeling her normal attitude coming back.

"I'm kidding," Kiyoteru said with a wave of his hand. Eri slightly relaxed.

"Well, what would it mean if you weren't joking?" she asked, still defensive.

Kiyoteru thought for a moment. "That you are imaginative, thus you move in your sleep while experiencing dreams," he said in an authoritative tone.

Eri facepalmed. "No," she said, shaking her head. Then she started to giggle. "But whatever." She leaned back in her seat and waited for the plane to land.

A short time later, the plane landed, and everyone in the plane stood up. Luka and Neru picked up Rin, and Kiyoteru volunteered himself and Eri to carry Len, since they were the only other ones sitting at the front of the plane. Eri reluctantly agreed to help with Len, even though she felt awkward carrying a guy that she didn't even know.

Towards the back of the plane, Subaru bounded forward to join Mai and Riku. Mai was giggling about something.

"What's so funny?" Subaru asked curiously.

"Look," Mai said, pointing towards the front of the plane, and Subaru shifted to see over IA's shoulder. Riku and Mai also looked as they saw Eri and Kiyoteru struggling to pick up Len and hold him between themselves. Subaru saw Eri look up at Kiyoteru and giggle, and he snapped his gaze away as Mai nudged him playfully.

Everyone on the plane eventually filed out the plane's door and through a hallway. On the other side of the hallway, Kaito was waiting with a worried expression. After a hushed conversation with Haku, he helped escort them to a plane he had managed to hold for them, by lying to the creators about need for money.

The Vocaloids and Utauloids hurried onto the small plane, which they found had been completely reserved for them. Haku thanked Kaito, and then a professional pilot told them to be seated.

Eri and Kiyoteru set Len down next to where Rin had been set down, and Eri went over to Haku.

"What exactly just happened?" she asked, slightly confused from the sudden rush from one plane to the next.

"Kaito managed to contact the creators that were sponsering his trip, and asked for money. They gave it to him, and it's very kind of them, and now we're on a plane to an island in Hawaii, a state in the USA. At first we were going to go to Honolulu, but Kaito said that we would find more help on another island...he didn't tell me the name, but the pilot knows, so we should be fine." Haku explained.

Eri shook her head in amazement. Before she could go back to a seat, Mai and Riku ambushed her.

"Do you think Kiyoteru is cute, hmmm?" Riku asked with a childish grin.

Eri blinked, trying to take in the question. Realizing the meaning, she shook her head quickly and frowned. "What makes you think that?" she asked hurriedly.

Mai and Riku looked at each other and giggled. "Eheh, we don't think that, of course," Mai answered, keeping a straight face. "But someone might be jealous," she added, winking. Eri crossed her arms and started to reply, but Mai and Riku quickly turned and sat down, leaving Eri searching for somewhere else to sit down. She didn't really want to have to deal with them at the moment.

Deciding on a seat by Luka, Eri sat down, slightly more confident after the last flight, and smiled at Luka, who returned the smile.

After a few moments of silence, Eri's curiosity got the best of her. "Do you know anything about what happened to Meiko and Miku?" she asked suddenly.

Luka frowned. "Nothing. They were at the concert, and then they were at the hotel, and the next morning, they were gone. We had to come back though, because we'd only be in danger if we stayed. I assume that someone might've kidnapped Miku, but for them to kidnap Meiko, they'd have to know that she is in charge of the whole program, because no one else knew she was there, seeing how she didn't perform. So it had to be someone who knows the creators of Vocaloid very well."

Eri thought for a moment. "And what happened to the communication? Suddenly we lost all contact with you on the day of the concert."

Luka pursed her lips. "Our guide and communicator decided to abandon us. I personally believe he had something to do with Miku and Meiko's disappearance, but I could be wrong."

"So who piloted the airplane home then?" Eri asked, her curiosity only growing.

"Well our guide was someone different than our pilot. The pilot is the same pilot that always flies us to concerts," Luka answered.

"Wait, the guide wouldn't send the messages anymore, but why couldn't we hear the concert live? That's not dependent on a phone or anything, is it?"

"Meiko chose not to let anybody back home hear it, though I don't know why. It might've been a warning. Maybe Meiko knew something was up, and wanted Haku and Neru to be alert."

"Oh," was all Eri said. "Thank you for telling me."

Luka smiled. "No problem."

Eri was silent for a moment, then spoke up again. "Do you know how long this flight is?"

"Probably about ten hours."

Eri's eyes widened, then she slumped back in her seat. "That's a long time."

Luka laughed slightly. "Do you know IA? You might like her; you two strike me as very similar."

Eri remembered Haku's description of IA. "If anyone can calm down a group, it's her," Eri quoted under her breath. "_I doubt we're similar_," she added in her head. However, despite her doubts, Eri got up to sit next to IA.

"Hi," Eri said, and IA looked at her with full attention. "I'm Rizumu Eri. I know you're IA, because you're pretty famous. But, I'm kind of trying to make more friends. So...hi," she said, with a small smile, even though the voice inside her head was screaming at her that she was being awkward.

"Hi," IA responded. "I heard you're the one who came up with the idea for this search," she said. Eri nodded.

"Sort of. What do you think happened to Miku and Meiko?" Eri asked, wanting to get different opinions.

IA looked thoughtful. "I honestly don't know. Based on what I know, which isn't much, I think someone tried to sabotage Miku's concert, and when it didn't work, they kidnapped Miku and Meiko. It sounds weird, yeah, but it could happen."

"But who would want to kidnap a Vocaloid, and why?" Eri asked desperately, partially wondering to herself.

"Well, it's a reasonable guess that someone who opposes Vocaloids, especially someone whose popularity Vocaloids might jeopardize, would try to take away the relatively most important Vocaloids: the one that oversees the rest, and the one that is practically the image of Vocaloid," IA replied.

Eri considered that for a moment. "So what would they do with Miku and Meiko?"

"From what I've learned about Vocaloids in Neru's explanation to Gumi, Kiyoteru, and me, they can be shut down-permanently or temporarily-in two ways. One way is by the creators of Vocaloid choosing to purposely stop a certain Vocaloid from functioning, and I'm assuming they'd never permanently shut down a Vocaloid. The other way is by some sort of natural harm messing up a Vocaloid's system, possibly leading to that Vocaloid never being able to function again. Now, depending on the enemy's purpose, they may be trying to cause Miku and/or Meiko's system to shut down, or they may just be keeping them hostage. We won't know until we start searching."

Eri had to stop and process all of the information for a moment. "So...that means...they're basically trying to...kill...Miku?"

IA shrugged. "It's possible," she said with a grim expression. "But we're going to save Miku and Meiko, don't worry," she said reassuringly.

Eri started to panic. "But how? We don't know anything at all about her location!"

"We're smart together. We'll figure it out," IA said firmly.

"And...you kept saying Vocaloid...are Utauloids not in any danger?" Eri asked nervously.

"Utauloids and Vocaloids differ slightly. I remember that when I first got here, I went through quite a few classes, and one of them was the explanation of the difference between Utauloids and Vocaloids, though it was added recently, so it wasn't too descriptive. But basically, I know that Utauloids each have their own individual creator, and are less likely to be needed by someone else, though it's possible to become popular," IA explained.

Eri suddenly felt a sinking feeling within herself. "Less likely to be needed by someone else," she repeated under her breath.

Feeling restless again, Eri once again changed seats and moved to sit across from Mai and Riku.

"Geez, you move a lot," Mai commented.

"I'm so bored though," Eri complained. "And we still have like nine hours. I am not going to sleep for nine hours in a plane."

"Well it'll be night soon anyway," Riku said, glancing out the window.

"Since you're bored, we should play truth or dare!" Mai suggested enthusiastically.

Eri rolled her eyes. "No thanks," she mumbled.

"The alternative is to pester you with questions about Kiyoteru," Riku added solemnly.

Eri groaned. "Why do you guys care so much about him? I just had a conversation with him, sheesh..."

"Eri, come on. Face it. You're definitely much happier and more friendly after talking to him. He was the first one you talked to, and since then, you've been so different than you normally are," Mai pointed out.

"That isn't necessarily good," Eri argued.

"So then I suppose you prefer Subaru?" Mai asked playfully.

"No," Eri said, narrowing her eyes. She glared at Mai and Riku. "Just let it go. I can take care of myself just fine, thank you," she said bitterly.

Eri opened the journal that she had been carrying all day and thus ended the conversation.

"_~Continuation~_

_So, three hours later, I am still riding in a plane. Three hours down, a little less than nine to go. Great. I talked to Luka and IA. They both seem nice, and they both seem really worried about Miku. Is it bad that I really don't feel worried about Miku? I mean, I know I suggested this in the first place...but I just don't...feel a sense of urgency. Maybe it's because I'm still in denial that she's really missing._

_Well, we flew to Seoul, where Kaito had arranged another flight for us. I'm still confused as to where we're going, but supposedly we're going to get more help there. I don't know what that means, but I guess it's a good thing..."_

"Hi."

Eri looked up to see Ran standing in front of her. Eri quickly moved so that Ran could sit down. "Hi, Ran," she greeted. Then her eyes widened as she remembered what she had been planning to ask. "Oh, Ran, can you possibly change Vocaloids and Utauloids to look like humans if necessary?"

Ran looked thoughtful. "I think so, but I'm pretty sure there's a limit on the amount and types of magic I can use, otherwise we could all just become humans and run away or something."

"So it would only last temporarily?" Eri asked. Ran nodded.

"That is, assuming it works," Ran added quickly.

"How do you not know if your magic works?"

Ran shrugged. "It's a character item, not part of my personality. Rin and Len don't know if their road roller will smash through a wall until they try, right?"

"That would be pretty bad." Eri shook her head and stared at her journal. "Well, maybe if we're getting help at our next stop, we won't need to look like humans. Who knows."

"Haku and Neru," Ran said cheerfully.

Eri gave her a sideways glance. "Eh, too lazy to go ask," she said, smiling slightly. "So, what do you plan to do for the next five million hours that we're stuck on this thing?"

Ran laughed. "It's not that long, and besides, I'll probably start sleeping in about an hour. Until then, I'll just let my thoughts entertain me," she said. "Unless you want to talk for the next hour," she added.

"Well, I was thinking about trying to talk to someone else, but I guess I've already talked to everyone. I've talked to Kiyoteru, IA, Luka, Mai and Riku, Subaru, Gumi for a short time, and you. I talked to Haku and Neru before we left, so I think that counts too. I kind of wish Rin and Len were functioning right now, since I finally have a chance to talk to all of these famous Vocaloids," Eri said.

"Wow, you've talked to like twice as many people today as you have...ever," Ran remarked. "Is that a journal?" she asked, pointing to Eri's book.

"Yeah...I wrote in it some too, today."

"I've never seen you write in it before," Ran said, examining the book with a quizzical expression.

Eri slid down in her seat and looked up at the ceiling of the plane. "Well I didn't ever feel like it until now. After all, this is more exciting than normal, right? So it's perfect to write about," she said, looking back at Ran.

"Hm. So out of everyone you've talked to that you haven't met before, who's your favorite?" Ran asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It doesn't seem very nice to call one a favorite," Eri said quietly.

"That's never stopped you before..."

Eri sighed. "Well I just don't have a favorite yet. I don't know anyone well enough."

"Mmkay."

The two settled into their seats as silence enveloped them. Eri rolled her head to the side to look out the window, where light was disappearing. She propped her elbow on the armrest of her seat and set her chin in her hand, closing her eyes slightly.

. . .

Eri awoke to find herself still in the plane, where the lights were dimmed and the window was completely dark. She realized that everyone else must be asleep, because there was absolutely no one talking. Eri looked over at Ran, who, sure enough, was asleep. With a quiet sigh, Eri did her best to squeeze past Ran without waking her up.

Finding a new seat where she wouldn't disturb anyone if she made noise, Eri flipped open her journal to see if she could write with the dim light.

"~_Continuation~_

_Well, it could be morning. I don't know. It's completely dark outside right now though, and everyone's sleeping. I wish I could go back to sleep, but I highly doubt that now. I think I've run out of things to say, but I have nothing else to do. It's too boring to sit and think. That's what I do every day. I didn't come here to do the same thing I do every day._

_I don't even know how much longer this plane ride will take. I am definitely not looking forward to the return trip. But who knows, maybe I'll be so exhausted by then that it won't matter. I don't know what I could possibly do that would make me that tired, though."_

Bored of writing, Eri suddenly remembered her first entries. She flipped to the beginning of the journal and skimmed through the first few pages to try to find where she had left off. Finding it, she started reading again.

"_...But it's ok because Subaru is still my friend and I think it will always be that way. I would probably get pretty lonely if Subaru wasn't my friend. I guess I could make some more friends, and I'll try that tomorrow. Byebye~"_

_"Day 4:_

_Today I am going to make a new friend. It's too bad there aren't very many Vocaloids or Utauloids yet. I wish Teto could be my friend, but she's a teacher, so she's busy. She seems really nice though. Oh well. Maybe I'll go ask her if she knows anyone who could be my friend._

_~Continuation~_

_I couldn't find Teto :( For some reason, she wasn't in her classroom. But when I got to my room, there was a wonderful surprise waiting for me. There were two new songs on my bed. I was so happy. As soon as I finish writing this, I'm going to sing them, and that would be now. Bye~"_

_"Day 5:_

_Yesterday I didn't meet anyone new, but today I met a girl named Mai. I think I like her. Subaru also wants to be friends with her. He keeps being weird though. Oh well. That's his problem. Now I'm going to go listen to Mai sing a song. Later~"_

_"Day 6:_

_...I don't even know what to say. Mai told me something weird. And then...Subaru_

The page ended there, so Eri flipped the page, but found that the next one was blank. Slightly confused, she searched through her memory to figure out what had happened.

"So you wrote about it?"

Eri jumped. Turning around quickly, she saw Subaru behind her, leaning over her seat and most likely reading over her shoulder. He wasn't smiling, but he still almost looked amused, the way his eyebrows were raised.

When Eri didn't answer, Subaru spoke up again. "Did you forget?" he asked, being maddeningly vague.

"I- what are you even talking about?" Eri demanded.

"It seems like you ripped out the page. I bet you want to know what you wrote after that. I think I know, but I'm not telling," Subaru said, winking and sitting back down so that Eri had to turn fully around and look over the back of her seat to see him.

"I bet it's not even that important," Eri huffed, and twisted back around so that she was facing the right way before making herself comfortable in her seat again.

"Oh no, of course not," the voice behind her said sarcastically. Eri closed her eyes to ignore him.

_"told me he liked me. The problem is, I don't think I like him..._

_Well, bye~"_

Eri opened her eyes. She had just remembered what she had written on Day 7.

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><p><strong>The end is a bit overly dramatic. Ahah, I just needed a way to end the chapter. :3 But it <em>is<em> kind of important. I guess. ****Oh, and I'm not trying to start a Kiyoteru vs Subaru thing here. I really don't like that stuff. I'll try to avoid it.**

**Also, anyone want to take a guess on who this "help" is that they're meeting up with? (The fact that it's in Hawaii doesn't matter xD It was just convenient for the story.)**


	4. More Help and a Game of Musical Chairs

**Heyyy yeah I'm actually alive. It took me longer to update than I had thought it would because I hit writer's block...but that's all solved now, I hope. I hope it hasn't been so long you forgot what's going on. [Too lazy to provide summary of previous chapter.]**

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><p><em>"Day 7:<em>

_Subaru is acting really weird. Actually, I don't think he's acting any different from normal. But it's weirding me out. So I'm just going to hang out with Mai from now on. Everything Subaru does now gets on my nerves. Well, Mai says she'll be my best friend if I want, so I think I'll take her up on that offer._

_~Continuation~_

_I don't know if I want to write in this anymore...Subaru was the one who suggested I start it, and Mai says that if I keep it, that'll be weird. I'm sorry it was so short, but I think I'm going to say bye for the last time now. Byebye~"_

Eri sighed. "How did I forget that for so long?" she wondered aloud.

She sat in silence, thinking to herself, until she heard the sounds of someone waking up. Peeking over the seats, she tried to figure out who it was. Eri saw the Vocaloid with silver hair get up and move toward's the front of the plane, where the pilot undoubtably was.

Curious, Eri got up quietly and crept towards Haku's figure. When Haku turned to face Eri, they both jumped slightly in surprise.

"Um, sorry," Eri apologized.

"No, it's ok, I didn't think anyone was awake," Haku reassured her.

"Well, do you by any chance know how much longer the flight is?" Eri asked hopefully.

"Shouldn't be more than thirty minutes now. I'm trying to figure out if I need to wake everyone up yet. I don't want to be mean..." Haku trailed off. Looking down, she sighed. "I don't know how much sleep we'll get in the next few days, or even weeks."

Eri's eyes widened. "This isn't _that_ serious, is it? I mean, there's no way to know how long it will take, yeah, but why would we be missing sleep?"

Haku motioned for Eri to sit down with her in an empty row. "Neru and I have been talking. Once we meet up with the help, we feel that it will be best to hold a few meetings to get everyone's opinions, and then we're going to split up. We'll send out pairs of Vocaloids and Utauloids, disguised as humans, to search for Miku and Meiko. However, we're limited on money, so it will be necessary to use our time well. This could mean searching through the nights," Haku explained.

"Wait a second, who or what exactly is this "help" you keep talking about?" Eri asked.

Haku smiled briefly. "You'll see."

Eri almost narrowed her eyes in annoyance before remembering that it would be a rude thing to do at someone like Haku. Instead, she sighed. "Fine," she said reluctantly, and leaned against the wall of the plane.

After a few minutes of silence, Eri spoke up again. "When you say you're sending out _pairs _of Vocaloids and Utauloids, does that mean one Vocaloid goes with one Utauloid, or some other arrangement?"

"I don't have that decided yet. Based on the information we can organize at our next stop, I'll have to decide what's best. I still have no lead on where Miku and Meiko could be, so it will be hard. The most obvious place to look would be in California, where they were seen last, but if they were taken for ill intentions, there's no telling where they could be," Haku explained.

"Oh," Eri replied, and went back to staring straight ahead of her. As much as she was eager to do something exciting, she was slightly worried about who her partner would be. Everyone on the trip was perfectly nice, but there was no telling how each one would handle varioius situations. Eri wasn't even sure how she would handle things.

After what seemed like forever, Eri could feel the plane start to descend. She tried to look around and see if anyone else was awake, but couldn't tell. There wasn't any movement, but then again, Eri wasn't moving, and she knew she was awake. As the plane touched the ground, shifting could be heard from the various occupants of the plane.

The movement of the plane came to a slow stop, and Vocaloids and Utauloids alike began to stand up in anticipation. Eri herself stood, and followed Haku as she stepped out into the aisle. After a little wait, the pilot signaled that it was okay to exit.

Haku and Eri picked up Rin, and Neru and Luka carried Len. There was no hallway past the door of the plane this time, just steps, like at home. Eri spotted a building up ahead, which appeared to be the desired destination. The group made their way towards the building, and Haku did her best to open a door, which was hard, since she was also trying to carry Rin.

Eri felt slightly awkward going into the strange building, but Haku seemed to know what she was doing, so Eri just followed. As everyone entered the building, Haku and Neru seemed to be simultaneously searching for someone or something.

As they turned a corner, Eri's eyes widened in shock.

"Thank goodness you're here, Luka, I have terrible English."

Meiko was standing next to a rather confused person that resembled a Vocaloid, an apologetic smile on her face.

"Meiko!" Haku seemed to be just as shocked. "How are you here? Why didn't you tell anybody where you were?"

"Um, she did," Neru said, frowning at her cellphone. "But we weren't supposed to have our phones on during the flight."

"Why do you need to speak English?" Luka asked, looking at the person next to Meiko.

Haku turned to answer Luka. "This is our help. Meiko wasn't expected, but the English Vocaloids were."

"English Vocaloids?" Eri spke up.

"They're the same type of robot as us, only, they sing English," Haku explained. "They agreed to help us search for Miku and...Meiko. I guess they were successful with Meiko."

The Engloid standing next to Meiko spoke up. "I'm Miriam, and if you don't mind, I think we should take this conversation into a more appropriate space," she said.

Eri couldn't understand what the English Vocaloid had said, but Haku and Neru appeared to, so Eri just followed along. In a matter of seconds, she found herself in a big room with a big table in the middle.

"We don't have enough seats, sorry, but we'll hold our meetings in here," the English Vocaloid said.

"Thank you," Luka spoke up. "If you'll give me a moment, I'll explain to everyone what's going on." The English Vocaloid nodded, and Luka turned to everyone who had filed into the room.

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" Luka called. "We're about to begin some serious business here, so you need to listen closely. This building is connected to the Vocaloid and Utauloid Education Program, but is in fact for English Vocaloids. Soon we'll be meeting those who will be joining us in our endeavor to save Miku.

"I'm sure Meiko has a very interesting story, which may or may not be helpful to our goal, but first I need to introduce our new search party members as well as clear up any questions, though it is likely that those questions will be answered in the future meetings."

Luka turned to Miriam and began speaking in English. "Please bring in whoever you think should help." Miriam nodded and left the room. She returned shortly with two male Vocaloids.

"This is Oliver, and this is Leon," Miriam said, and Luka nodded.

"That's Oliver, and that's Leon," Luka repeated in Japanese for those who didn't understand. "I'm going to need to give some of you quick English lessons," she said in a quieter voice, as if making a mental note.

"Um, how do some of us know English?" Eri asked Luka.

"Well, the class wasn't added until after some of you were created. Even if you have poor English pronunciation, I still think it's wise to make sure you can understand it," Luka explained.

"OK," Luka said to everyone, clapping her hands. "We will be staying here for a week, and I'm sure you'd like to figure out where you'll be staying, but I think we'd all like to know what happened to Meiko."

Everyone turned expectantly to Meiko. Meiko gave a halfhearted smile and began. "Miku was the only one who went missing. I left on my own will. Earlier in the trip, our guide had abondoned us for an unknown reason, so I had my suspicions, but I didn't want to worry anyone over nothing.

"After the concert, the singers went back to their rooms, as did I. Nothing was wrong until I heard a knock and a door open, so I knew it had to be right next to me. I opened my door to see if anything was wrong, but no one was in the hall, so I assumed that Miku, Rin, Len, or Luka had gone to another's room.

"A little while later, I heard the same door open and close, and thought nothing of it, seeing how it was getting late. However, I had consistently checked on each Vocaloid during the trip at 10:30, and when I did that, I always went to Miku's room first, because it was right next to mine. I knocked on Miku's door but received no answer.

"Becoming worried, I knocked again, but to no response. I acted immediately and left a note on my door for Luka, Rin, and Len, telling them to leave like normal in the morning. I proceeded to check out of the hotel, and then take a bus to the airport. I didn't know where Miku had gone, but I knew that she couldn't have left on her own, because she would tell me first.

"I assumed she wouldn't be heading towards the Vocaloid and Utauloid Education Program building at any rate, so I turned to a closer alternative for help. Unfortunately, progress is slow because my English pronunciation is poor. And now you're here, and I'm assuming you've decided to send a search party out for Miku?" Meiko surveyed the Vocaloids and Utauloids gathered in the room.

"Yes, and apparently we have a girl who has the ability to make us look like humans, if that becomes necessary," Neru spoke up. "Oh, yeah, and here's your spare phone," she said, somewhat reluctantly handing a cellphone to Meiko.

Meiko laughed slightly. "You can keep it for now if you'd like. Now, if Miriam and Luka could direct everyone to their rooms, that would be great. It's going to be a little bit crowded now, because there aren't as many English Vocaloids, but we'll deal with it.

Miriam told Luka something in English and quickly left the room. Luka turned to Meiko. "She'll be back with room assignments shortly. We may have to put some in this room with sleeping bags."

"So how many did you bring?" Meiko looked at everyone. "You, Haku, Neru, IA, Gumi, Kiyoteru, Riku, Subaru, Eri, Ran, Mai...and...oh dear..." Meiko noticed Rin and Len for the first time. "They were shut down?" She evidently knew more than the rest of the group did, but that was to be expected.

"Yes," Haku replied. "We guessed that the creators knew about Miku's disappearance and didn't want Rin and Len to be endangered. We brought them anyway," she said.

Meiko looked thoughtful, and then shrugged. "Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. It can't be changed at this point."

Haku was about to ask another quesiton, when Miriam returned. Everyone turned her attention to her, and she motioned for everyone to follow, while speaking in English for those who could understand.

"This way. We have ten available spaces. The rest of you will have to fit in the meeting rooms."

She arrived at the first room, and Luka told Ran that she could use it. The next room was for IA, and then Mai and Eri. There were two extra rooms; one was given to Subaru, Riku, and Kiyoteru, while the other was given to Gumi, who would take care of Rin and Len. Haku, Neru, Meiko, and Luka agreed to sleep in the meeting room.

After everyone had seen where there room was, Luka brought them back to the meeting room, where those who needed them could get English lessons for the remainder of the day.

After long hours of condensed lessons that were suitable for robots, Eri and Mai nervously made their way to their temporary room, unsure of what to expect of their roommate. To their surprise, it was Oliver, whom Luka had introduced as one of the new members of the search party.

Oliver greeted them with a smile.

"Why do you have a bandage over your eye?" Mai asked immediately in her best English. Eri nudged her and gave her a disapproving stare, though she had to admit she had been curious too.

Oliver smiled slightly and shrugged. "It's just part of my costume."

Mai's eyes immediately widened. "Your voice is really quit!"

Oliver looked confused until Eri rolled her eyes. "Cute. Not quit."

"Oh," Oliver said, nodding, and smiled again. "Thank you...I think..."

"So, do you know what is happening?" Mai asked.

"If you mean what the meetings are about, then no. I don't think anyone had any idea you were coming, but Miriam is pretty good about reacting quickly to surprises."

There was a knock on the door, and Oliver opened it curiously. Ran appeared in the doorway, along with IA.

"Are any of you tired?" Ran asked in Japanese as she entered the room, since Oliver was the only one who spoke English.

"Sort of, but does anyone know what time it is?" Eri replied.

"I believe it's actually mid-day, because arrived here in the middle of the night. But I don't know if we're supposed to go to sleep or not," IA said.

"Well, there hasn't been any news on meetings, so I plan to go to sleep," Mai said decidedly. She walked over to her bed and laid down, and Oliver watched her in confusion before turning back to the others and glancing at each in turn.

"That solves that," IA said in English for Oliver. "But I do not feel like sleeping. Oliver, is there anything to do here? There is not really much to do in our building, but I do not know if this is any different."

Oliver shook his head. "We just play games on most days, since there's not very many of us."

Gumi bounded into the room. "Games? What kind of games?" she asked, clapping her hands.

Oliver jumped at her sudden entrance, and then he recovered and shrugged. "Leon and Lola taught us games like charades, truth or dare, musical chairs-"

"Musical chairs? What is that? It sounds fun!" Gumi said enthusiastically.

Eri was slightly surprised. She hadn't gotten the impression that Gumi was so lively, but she hadn't really talked to her much either.

"Eh, it can get boring," Oliver replied. "But I guess it would be fun the first few times, so if you wanted to try it, you could," he added quickly. "We might have to get permission from Miriam and Meiko first, though."

"Wait," Eri said skeptically. "You have not even gave us instructions yet."

"Do you have to know the instructions to know it is fun?" Gumi asked, crossing her arms. "It's _musical~._"

Ran glanced around. "I will go ask for permission to play. Do we need a whole room to do it?"

Oliver nodded. "The second meeting room will be good. If you don't mind, do you think you could ask the other members of your group if they want to play?"

IA spoke up. "I'll go do that. You can explain it to them so that they can help explain it to us," she volunteered.

Oliver looked slightly uncomfortable as he turned to Gumi and Eri. "Um...it's not really that exciting, but okay. There's a circle of chairs, and music plays. The number of chairs is one less than the number of people playing. Everyone walks around the circle of chairs as long as the music plays, and when the music stops, everyone tries to sit down. The one left standing is out, and a chair is removed. It goes on until everyone but one person is out."

Gumi nodded and saluted. "I will do my best," she said solemnly.

Ran returned and smiled. "We can play. Is IA back yet?"

"Mhmm," a soft voice came from behind Ran. Ran spun around to face IA, who had also brought Subaru, Riku, and Kiyoteru, along with Neru. "Not a huge group, but we can still play, right?"

"Not to go off topic, but I don't know any of your names..." Oliver said.

"You didn't introduce yourselves? Geez, how rude," Neru scolded in Japanese. She cleared her throat. "Subaru, Riku, Kiyoteru," she said, pointing to each one in turn. "Eri, IA, Ran, Gumi."

"Oh, okay. Follow me to the meeting room, and we can play," Oliver instructed. "Eri and Gumi? Do you mind explaining on the way?"

The nine of them made their way to the meeting room as Gumi explained, which was fine with Eri. Once in the room, Oliver messed with a small box and suddenly music started playing.

"Hey I know that song," Gumi spoke up. "It's Magnet." Neru rolled her eyes.

"Yeah because it's been sung by every single Vocaloid and probably most Utauloids. Ever. I bet," Neru said.

"You have to remember to speak English," Eri reminded them, since they were speaking Japanese.

"Oh, right. I did not realize," Gumi said, switching languages with a confused look on her face. "This is so weird."

"Okay, I'll stop the music when it's time. Go ahead and start walking," Oliver said, somewhat unsure of whether everyone was ready or not.

Gumi skipped out in front and everyone else followed, tense and unsure of when the music would stop. Eri felt a tap on her shoulder and narrowed her eyes.

"I can not turn around, so who are you?" she asked, dreading the answer.

"Kiyoteru," a voice said behind her, and she could tell from his tone that he was smiling. Eri immediately felt relieved, and started walking backwards to face him.

"Oh, hello," she said. "Did you have something specific to say?"

Before Kiyoteru could answer, the music stopped, and Eri yelped as she fell sideways into the nearest chair. She heard a groan from Riku next to her, who was on the ground next to Gumi's chair. Gumi was grinning triumphantly.

"You should pay more attention to the game," Kiyoteru told Eri with a wink. "Gumi looks pretty intense."

Gumi and Riku dragged a chair away from the circle, and everyone pushed the chairs away. Riku ran over to join Oliver, and the music started up again. Eri was directly behind Gumi now, and hoped she wouldn't have Riku's fate.

The group continued to walk in relative silence, focusing on the music, until it too was silenced and everyone reacted as fast as they could. Eri seized her opportunity and sat down, and looked around the circle to see who hadn't been lucky. She saw Ran partially in IA's lap, looking like she was trying to hold in laughter.

"I am sorry, but I think I got here first," IA said politely, and Ran smiled somewhat as IA got up and pushed the chair out of the circle.

"You people are not competetive enough," Gumi criticized. "Get some smack talk in there! We need to have some excitement here." She turned to Oliver. "Turn it up a bit!" she added.

Oliver shrugged and started the music, earning an approving nod from Gumi when it was indeed louder.

Eri, Kiyoteru, Subaru, Gumi, Neru, and IA were left. Eri tried to look around the circle to see where Subaru was. She was surprised he hadn't tried to talk to her yet, but she wasn't complaining.

The music stopped and Eri panicked as she realized that she wasn't directly in front of a chair. She collapsed as quickly as she could backwards, since Gumi was in front of her and she doubted Gumi would go down without a fight.

Eri lost her balance and fell out of her chair, and Neru ran past Kiyoteru to sit in it. Eri sighed.

"Does that count?" Neru asked eagerly.

Oliver looked nervous at being put on the spot as judge. "Um...I guess it does. Eri is out," he decided.

Eri sighed and reluctantly walked over to Riku and Ran. Riku held up his hand for a highfive and she halfheartedly returned it.

"Loser buddies!" he said cheerfully, and Ran gave him a disapproving glance.

A chair was taken out, and the music started again. Eri watched in mild interest as Gumi stalked around the circle, taking erratic steps as she tried to stay in front of a chair at all times. Kiyoteru and IA seemed to be the only normal ones in the game, as Neru was nervously following Gumi's pattern of steps and Subaru was trudging like the game was punishment.

The music stopped and Gumi sat down immediately, causing Neru to trip. With Neru out, there were only four players left.

"This will decide fourth place," Oliver announced. Gumi blew a kiss to the 'crowd.'

"Do not worry, I am going to win this for all of my loyal fans," she said proudly. Eri racked her brain for the moment when Haku called Gumi really smart.

The music started up and almost immediately stopped. Gumi shrieked as she realized she was the only one still standing. She hung her head. "I have failed you all," she said sadly as she walked dejectedly away from the game.

"Loser buddies," Eri said with sarcastic enthusiasm. Riku crossed his arms and huffed.

"Third place..." Oliver said as he started the music, starting to get more interested in the game.

"Well, if I can not win, I'm placing my bets on IA," Gumi said, leaning towards Eri.

Third place was IA.

"I AM A BAD LUCK CHARM!" Gumi cried as IA shrugged and wished Subaru and Kiyoteru luck. Gumi sighed and faced the corner. "This is a nicer view anyway."

Kiyoteru and Subaru circled around the single chair, as all eyes were on them, except for Gumi's of course. Oliver let the song loop back to the beginning right before it ended, and the two remaining players flinched. They continued to walk though, both looking calm.

Oliver finally stopped the music and watched in anticipation as both players tried to sit down at the same time.

After closer inspection, Oliver declared Kiyoteru the winner.

Subaru sighed. "You're pretty lucky..." he mumbled in Japanese.

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><p><strong>Ooo. Drama. Yeah from now on I'm going to put Japanese in bold, since they'll be speaking it less, but it's still annoying to say what language they're speaking in all the time. A whole lot happened in this chapter...sorta. CoughcoughMeiko&amp;Engloidscough. I never really can stay focused when writing a chapter. Oh well. I hope it's still interesting. I had writer's block because this is sort of a connecting point in what I had planned. Character development though! -Insert excited face with thumbs up here-<strong>

**Anybody remember the Gumi from Rising to Fame? Yeah that's the same one. Does she seem different here? Maybe. **

**Mwahaha.**

**Why did I laugh evilly? -sigh- Just ignore me.**


	5. The Price for Progress

**A new chapter so soon! :O**

**Well, I enjoyed writing this chapter. Remember, from now on, bolded dialogue is Japanese, including the journal entry at the end.**

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><p>There was a knock at the door and Mai quickly tiptoed across her temporary room and opened it slightly, squinting in the hallway light. Seeing that it was Meiko, she stepped outside and gently closed the door behind her.<p>

"**Is anyone else in your room awake?**" Meiko asked. Mai shook her head.

"**No one else is in my room. I don't know where they are.**"

"**Oh. They probably fell asleep playing musical chairs or something,**" Meiko said. "**But would you mind coming to our meeting? We're trying to decide how to organize ourselves.**"

Mai nodded happily. "**Of course,**" she agreed.

"**Okay. Let's go check the room the others were using for their game, to see if anyone is awake.**"

The two walked in silence until they arrived at the second meeting room, where Meiko peeked into the dark room and looked around. Some were on the ground, and some were lying in chairs. Neru was texting in a corner.

"**Neru**," Meiko whispered. "**Is anyone else awake**?" Subaru opened his eyes and glanced at the door. Meiko saw him and motioned for him to come out. Neru and Subaru came out, and Neru put her phone away.

"**Who were you texting?**" Meiko asked as they walked towards the first meeting room.

"**SeeU,**" Neru answered somewhat sheepishly. "**She's pretty funny.**"

"**Okay, well, we're going to have a mini meeting that's not obligatory, but we're deciding how to organize the search,**" Meiko explained for the second time. Neru nodded. Subaru appeared to be rather tired.

The four entered the main meeting room, where Miriam, Haku, and Luka were waiting.

"Only three?" Miriam asked, seeing whom Meiko had brought.

"Well, it _is_ technically night time, right?" Neru asked. "Our schedule got kind of messed up, so most are sleeping."

"Yes, that's okay, I think this amount is okay for a meeting like this," Luka said.

"So first things first, we need to agree on a number for each group," Meiko said, sitting down.

"Each group? How many groups will there be?" Mai asked.

"We're hoping to have five, and we have fifteen available to leave, though I think it's best if Meiko and I stay here, which means it'll probably be best to organize in pairs, with one person assigned to keep track of each. Does that make sense?" Miriam said. "Lola, an English Vocaloid that you haven't met yet, has also volunteered to supervise a group, if necessary," she added.

"Yes I think pairs work," Mai said. Subaru and Neru nodded, and Haku smiled.

"So now we need to figure out who is going, or maybe who is not going, and who would be better to stay here," Haku said.

"As I said, Meiko and I will stay, and I hope you don't have any objections, but I think it's a good idea to keep Haku and Neru here also. They appear to be working hard to be leaders," Miriam added. Haku looked slightly surprised.

"Don't think you're a bad leader just because something unfortunate happened when you were in charge," Meiko said.

"That makes five, if you include Lola, but then there will be eleven left," Mai said.

"No, I will be overseeing everything, since Miku is a Japanese Vocaloid, and I'm in charge of all Japanese Vocaloids," Meiko said. "So we need one more person to be in charge. I would pick Ran or IA, since they seem to be fairly calm and down to earth, but I feel like that would be more useful if they were actively searching. So, Mai, would you like to be in charge of a pair?" Meiko asked.

Mai was slightly disappointed that she had been picked like that, second to two others who were 'more useful if they were actively searching.' "Sure," she agreed.

"Okay, good. Now that leaves Eri, Oliver, Kiyoteru, Subaru, Riku, IA, Ran, Gumi, Luka, and Leon. Subaru, you haven't said anything yet. Any ideas?" Meiko asked.

Subaru shook his head.

"Luka, do you think you would be fine with Leon?" Miriam asked.

"Mhmm, I think I'll be fine with anyone," Luka said.

"Okay, so Luka and Leon are together. How about Eri and Subaru? You're pretty good friends, right?" Meiko suggested.

Subaru's eyes widened. "Um, actually," he interjected, thinking for a moment. "Now that I think about it, Riku really likes to be around me," he said. "Yeah."

Mai gave him a sideways glance. "Yes, Riku should be with Subaru," she said, still watching Subaru. "It would help Riku focus."

Meiko considered the idea for a moment. "Okay. Now, I don't know about the personalities of the English Vocaloids," she said, looking at Miriam. "What's Oliver like?"

"He was pretty shy at first, and still is, but he's extremely friendly," Miriam said.

Neru's hand shot up in the air. "Put him with Gumi," she said, giggling slightly. Haku looked at her suspiciously.

"Do you have a reason for this sudden suggestion?" Haku asked.

"I think Gumi would be the only one with enough enthusiasm to help Oliver out if he's too shy to do something," she said calmly.

"IA and Ran should be together," Luka said. "I know IA, and I've seen a little bit of Ran, and I think they have similar personalities."

"Okay, that leaves Eri and Kiyoteru. Any objections to the five pairings? Again we have Luka and Leon, Riku and Subaru, Gumi and Oliver, and Eri and Kiyoteru," Meiko said.

Everyone shook their heads. "Do you think we should wait until everyone can attend a meeting to decide who will take care of which group? That way the pairs can pick their supervisor if they'd like," Mai suggested.

"Yes, that's a good idea," Miriam said. "Okay then, our meeting is over. It was fairly simple, since everyone agreed. I believe that we will work very well together," she said cheerfully.

Mai walked back to her room after the meeting was dismissed, and took her time as she strolled past each room, wondering who was in them. As she passed the room right next to her, something made her stop and lean closer to the door. A muffled sound could be heard.

"**The doors must not be as soundproof in this building as in our building,**" she mumbled as she pressed her ear to the door.

"**Are you ever going to wake up?**" a quiet voice was asking. "**I already went through this once, and it wasn't even as serious,**" the voice continued. "**I just can't take it when people are in danger. I shouldn't have come on this trip. But you'd want everyone to help save Miku, wouldn't you? I don't know if I can do anything though...**"

The urge to open the unlocked door nearly overtook Mai, but she decided against it. She had her suspicions about who it was, but she didn't want to ruin anybody's trust. Instead, she kept going past her door, and to the exit door. She didn't know if she was allowed to go outside, but no one had told her otherwise, so she slowly pushed the door open and wandered outside.

She took in her surroundings for the first time. It really was a pretty place. She walked aimlessly along a pathway, following it and assuming that one of the English Vocaloids must have made it.

As she walked, Mai lost track of time, but didn't really care, since she didn't feel like sleeping anymore. After what seemed like a long time but probably wasn't more than fifteen minutes, Mai found herself staring at a vast body of water.

Her mouth opened in awe as she looked at the water, shimmering slightly in the pale moonlight. She stared for a minute, mesmerized by the gentle waves. After she blinked a few times and regained her senses, her first thought was to tell Eri. Forgetting the distance, she started out in a sprint back along the path, eager to tell Eri about the special place.

The trip was much shorter when Mai ran, and she arrived back at the building out of breath. Still, she walked through the hallways and made her way to the second meeting room, where she assumed everyone would still be sleeping.

Mai opened the door a tiny bit and peeked inside. She tiptoed into the room after spotting Eri and gently tapped her. Eri woke up quietly, and had to look at Mai for a second before recognizing her.

"**Come with me**," Mai whispered, and Eri got up and followed Mai out of the room.

"**So where are we going?**"

Mai jumped and spun around to see Riku standing behind Eri. "**Don't do that**," she scolded. "**You scared me!**"

"**You didn't answer my question**," he said innocently.

Mai sighed. "**Fine, you can come. I'm not telling you where, though.**"

Riku looked slightly confused, but nodded anyway and followed her and Eri. Mai broke into a jog once they were outside, and Riku groaned as he followed suit.

After a long silence, the wind picked up. The three friends slowed to a walk, and Mai could already hear the waves that must have been getting rougher.

Finally, the ocean came into view. Mai stopped and glanced at Eri, whose eyes had widened.

"**It's from my window...**" she said quietly.

Mai stared at the sea again. "**Oh...you're right...that's kind of cool**."

Mai looked at Eri's expression before glancing at Riku and shrugging. Eri was completely glued to the view before her, lost in the rhythmic sound of the waves continuing their pattern indefinitely.

Mai sat down, and Riku sat down. Even when the wind started to chill the air, Eri continued to stand and watch. When it started to rain, Eri finally looked up at the sky. "**How long have we been here?**" she asked absentmindedly, as water dripped on her face.

"**I don't know, but do you think we should leave now?**" Mai asked, wiping the water off her cheeks.

Eri looked saddened. "**I wanted to see the sun come up**," she admitted.

"**That could take a while, and you don't even know if the sun will be visible through the clouds.**"

Eri sat down in between Mai and Riku.

"**It's okay, I have a while.**"

Mai shrugged and stared at the ocean, trying to figure out why Eri was so drawn to it.

* * *

><p>Mai woke up to a pleasant breeze and a pretty light. She blinked a few times and realized she was lying down, or rather half sitting, half lying. She sat up and realized she had been sleeping on Eri, who was still sitting with her legs criss-crossed, with something almost like a smirk on her face.<p>

"**It was really pretty. It's really a shame you missed it**," Eri said, without looking at Mai.

Mai looked from Eri to Riku, who was apparently sleeping on the other side of Eri. She then turned to look out at the sun that had just barely finished rising above the horizon. The rainclouds had gone away, and the sea seemed to be fairly calm again.

"**Do you think we should go back now?**" Mai asked, and stood. Eri looked up and her and then down at Riku, whom she tapped rather harshly. Riku woke up, and took a minute to remember his surroundings. He nearly jumped five meters in the air when he realized he had been sleeping with his head on Eri's shoulder.

"**Sorry...**" he apologized, before Eri stood without a word.

"**We're going back now,**" Mai announced, and Riku nodded and stood up too. The three quietly started to walk back to the building.

Eri finally spoke after a couple of minutes. "**The world is really big, isn't it? Are we really going to find Miku before something bad happens to her?**"

Mai and Riku didn't answer, and didn't want to answer, because in truth they both worried the same thing too.

"**I always thought the ocean represented something good, because when I had nowhere to go but my room, I could look out the window and imagine what could happen outside. The ocean here makes me sad, though,**" Eri continued. She shook her head. "**But I won't be depressing to everyone else.**" She forced a smile onto her face and glanced at Mai and Riku. Her smiled faded somewhat as she noticed Mai and Riku's worried expressions as they continued to stare straight ahead.

The three got back to the building and Riku separated to go to his own room, and Mai and Eri returned to theirs. Oliver was back in the room, and he looked up when they entered.

"**Hello**," he greeted with a half smile.

Mai brightened up immediately. "You spoke in Japanese!" she said happily.

Oliver nodded. "That's all I can say though," he admitted.

Mai gave him a small nod. "Still good. You pronounced it perfectly, unlike our English."

Oliver smiled with gratitude. "Well, Miriam told me that as soon as everyone in a room was awake and back, they should head to the meeting room," he said, without mentioning the two girls' obvious absences. "So we can go now."

Mai and Eri followed him to the first meeting room, where Riku, Subaru, and Kiyoteru were just sitting down, and IA, Miriam, Lola, Meiko, Haku, Neru, Luka, Gumi, Ran, and Leon were all present.

Meiko stood. "Everyone is here now, so the meeting will start. Miriam will explain what has been decided already," she said, and sat down again. Those who had been talking amongst themselves quieted down.

"Last night, we gathered the few who were still awake, and held a meeting on who will be sent out on the search, and who will stay here," Miriam began. "There will be five pairs. Those have been decided to be IA with Ran, Subaru with Riku, Eri with Kiyoteru, Gumi with Oliver, and Leon with Luka. We have chosen what we feel is best, and it will be better if no changes are made."

Eri's eyes widened and suddenly she almost wished she had ended up with Subaru instead. At least then, she would be comfortable. As much as she opposed Subaru, it wasn't awkward to be around him. Kiyoteru, on the other hand, had a way of making her feel like there was nothing to say, but something needed to be said.

Eri shrugged the thoughts off and concentrated on the meeting.

"Those who will be remaining here and overseeing the searchers are Meiko, Haku, Neru, Mai, Lola, and myself. We have invited everyone here to decide who will be guiding and checking up on who. Any preferences?" Miriam continued.

Eri held up a hand. "Could I get Mai, possibly?" she asked quietly.

Miriam tilted her head and nodded. "Of course," she said. "I'm also going to add the Meiko will be overseeing everyone, so she isn't assigned to a particular group. Any other ideas?"

Ran spoke up. "I believe IA and I would both like to have you as our guide," she said.

"Is Neru okay, Oliver?" Gumi asked across the table. Neru looked partially surprised at being requested. Oliver also looked a bit taken aback, but only because it had just dawned on him that he was paired with Gumi. He nodded slowly.

"Haku," Luka said.

"So that means that Lola will be with Riku and Subaru," Miriam concluded, and Lola smiled and nodded once. "Good. I don't know that we'll need everyone for future meetings, but those who are remaining here during the search need to be ready to give their opinions at any time while we are here. The rest of you are free to hang out until then. You may leave."

Mai and Eri departed together, and left to go to their room and chat, while Oliver decided to go with the rest of the male Japanese Vocaloids to stay in their room.

"I'm really glad I get to be with you on the trip," Riku said to Subaru after they were in the room with Kiyoteru and Oliver. "I was slightly worried that I would annoy my partner, but that's okay with you," he said with a grin.

Subaru glanced at Kiyoteru. "Happy about your pairing?" he asked, not quite bitterly, but almost tauntingly.

Kiyoteru looked at him in surprise. Subaru continued to stare at him until he answered. "I really don't mind anyone," he replied vaguely. Riku continued grinning.

Oliver looked slightly confused. "Does Kiyoteru like Eri?"

Everybody in the room looked at him. Subaru looked uninterested, Riku looked gleeful, and Kiyoteru looked taken aback.

A 'no' and a 'yes' came at the same time and Oliver looked from Kiyoteru to Riku.

Riku huffed indignantly. "Obviously someone is a little too sophisticated for 'liking' people."

"I thought you liked her," Kiyoteru said to Subaru. Suddenly all eyes shifted to Subaru, whose expression darkened.

"What made you think that?" Subaru asked.

"You just seemed attracted to her," Kiyoteru said simply.

"Yeah well if she doesn't like me nobody has to care okay?" Subaru said somewhat defensively, looking at Riku especially hard. An awkward silence settled.

"Well, I'm stuck with Gumi. I don't know whose idea that was, but I'm kind of scared of her..." Oliver said nervously, breaking the silence.

"Neru suggested it," Subaru answered, looking slightly relieved that the topic had changed.

"Wait, you were at the meeting when the pairs were decided?" Kiyoteru asked.

Subaru's relieved expression disappeared. "No," he lied.

"Why are Eri and I together?" Kiyoteru asked curiously. "Did you have any say in it?"

"Why does it matter?" Subaru asked in exasperation. "You're all acting like girls, gossiping like this." He looked at the three curious expressions waiting for an answer and sighed. "I was originally paired with Eri, but I wanted to be with Riku. That's all I told them..." he insisted. "Drop the subject..." he added quietly.

An abrupt knock sounded on the door, and Kiyoteru went to open it. Gumi was standing in the doorway, and when she saw Oliver, a smile lit her face.

"Ollie!" she cried, and bounded into the room. Oliver grimaced at the nickname. "We must get to know each other better," she said, and grabbed his arm, nearly dragging him out of the room.

"Help," he mouthed as Gumi closed the door behind herself.

"Sheesh, I'm not that bad," she said as she walked down the hallway with Oliver. "I shall warn you of a certain problem you need to be aware of when we start the search, kay?"

Gumi held her door open for Oliver, and then followed him inside. She immediately pointed to Rin and Len, who looked like they were asleep on a bed.

"Who are they?" he asked.

"That's Rin, and that's Len," she said, pointing to one and then the other in turn, and waited for Oliver's next question.

"Why haven't I met them before?"

"They have been shut down," Gumi answered.

"What does that mean?" Oliver asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"It means that the creators of Vocaloid have decided that it is not of the best interest to keep them functioning, so for however long the creators wish to keep Rin and Len nonexistent, they are basically nonexistent."

"I can tell that this is a problem, but what does it have to do with our current situation?"

Gumi glanced at the look-a-likes and then back at Oliver. "Nothing, really," she said, and sighed, slowing shifting her unfocused gaze back to Rin and Len.

Oliver shifted uncomfortably. "So...am I leaving now...or...?"

Gumi's eyes widened and her focus snapped back to Oliver. "No, please, I'll be lonely," she said, and pouted.

Oliver managed half a smile. "You're kind of odd sometimes," he said, and crossed his arms as he leaned against the door.

"Nope, it's just you," Gumi said with her hands on her hips, with a small smile tugging on the corners of her mouth.

* * *

><p>As the daylight faded, Eri grabbed her journal and headed out of the building alone. She walked the path to the beach at a leisurely pace, thinking about what she should write.<p>

Reaching the shore, she sat down and flipped the journal open to an empty page following her previously filled ones.

"_**Where to begin...where to begin...**_

_**So much has happened, or maybe not, since I last wrote. The Vocaloid search party, or should I say Japanese Vocaloid search party, met up with English Vocaloids, which I didn't even know existed. As if that wasn't surprising enough, it turns out Meiko was also there, and that the only one who really went missing was Miku...**_

_**We have added four English Vocaloids to our mission now: Oliver, Leon, Miriam, and Lola. Soon, ten of us will be sent out in pairs to actively search for Miku. The rest will stay behind to guide and keep track of the ten. I am included in that ten, and paired up with Kiyoteru.**_

_**I don't know what to expect on the mission, but I just hope I'll get to write more. I suppose it would be rather disappointing for someone to read this and then not get to know the ending. Of course, I've never let anyone read this anyway. But maybe that will change?**_

_**Here at the building where the English Vocaloids stay, there is a little path to a beach. I am writing there right now. It reminds me of my window in my room. It really is pretty...but kind of depressing. Especially when the wind blows and the waves get choppy, and everything except the ocean seems to slow down.**_

_**I don't know how much longer I'll be at the English Vocaloid building, but I hope I get to visit here every day. It makes me feel sad, but the sadness makes me feel kind of...whole? Like I don't feel complete without experiencing every emotion, which includes sadness. The ocean helps to complete me, and keep my emotions balanced. Slightly weird, but I like to think of it that way.**_

_**I'm almost worried about Subaru. He seems more...subdued than usual. But maybe this trip is changing everyone. If I think about it, I realize I've changed so much from only a couple of weeks ago. Before now, I had always been extremely comfortable with those I knew, and maybe too comfortable, since I was mean a lot. And then with people I didn't know, I was just uninterested. But now, I feel more interested. And I don't feel like I should be mean to anyone around me, because they're all experiencing some level of stress, just like me.**_

_**Miku, do you realize how much you're changing the other Vocaloids? I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but for the first time, I kind of want to tell you thank you.**"_

Eri closed her journal and sighed wistfully; the sun had gone down and left her with the dim moonlight to guide her back up the path. She got up anyways and made her way back to the building.

Mai was the only one currently occupying the room, and she appeared to be sleeping, so Eri quietly climbed in bed herself and tucked her journal under her pillow, closing her eyes and letting sleep overtake her.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay. So. I've started semi-changing perspectives throughout the chapter. I mean, it's not in first person, but I'm sure you understand my point. I hope it's not too confusing though. But I think it's fun to see a bit of everything in the story ^_^<strong>

**On another note, any thoughts on Gumi and Oliver? I'm not really sure what to do about them.**


	6. Unexpected Additions

**New chapter! (Obviously.) Remember, Japanese is in bold. Oh, and if this chapter is a little bit confusing, I'm very sorry. Especially in the dream, if I didn't make it clear, the italicized writing is Eri's dream, while the bold italicized writing is someone speaking in that dream. It'll make sense when you get to it. Anyways, enjoy.**

* * *

><p>Eri woke with a start and sat up in bed as a loud sound seemed to be coming from outside the door.<p>

"Ollie!" A voice half-sang, half-yelled. Eri looked around the room and saw Mai and Oliver with similar expressions on their faces. Oliver squeezed his eye shut and shook his head slowly. With a slightly reluctant sigh, he got out of bed and started to walk towards the door. Another round of loud knocking caused him to sprint the rest of the way and open the door hurriedly.

"Hi," Gumi said, after Oliver opened the door quickly with a panicked expression on his face.

"...Hi..." Oliver said in return.

Gumi grinned. "That's really all I had to say."

"..."

"It's not nice to slam doors shut in people's faces, you know!" Gumi called after Oliver forcefully shut the door and turned around to face Eri and Mai with a pained expression.

Outside the door, IA opened the door from across the hall and shushed Gumi politely before stepping outside and making her way to the room next door. She knocked, and Ran came to the door.

The two girls walked together to the second meeting room, since it was the only unoccupied room.

"**Any idea how much longer until we leave?**" Ran asked IA as she sat down in a chair.

"**I heard Miriam tell Lola that Meiko was waiting for something, but I don't know what,**" IA replied.

"**It could be possible that Meiko is contacting home.**"

IA and Ran looked towards Gumi, who was leaning against the doorway, looking quite calm and collected compared to a few moments before.

"**What makes you think that?**" IA asked.

Gumi stepped into the room. "**Think about it. I'm sure by now that Haku and Neru have informed Meiko how they left the place. Teto's in charge. Everyone is probably wondering what happened to us. Now, whether it's publicly recognized, or whether it's quiet whispers, everyone has to have some idea of what happened to us, true or not.**

"**I'm sure that Haku and Neru told Teto to make sure everyone stayed, calm, but Teto has to have her own worries, right? Now, think about what happens when a good lot of popular Vocaloids are missing. They can't sing their songs. What happens then? People get suspicious. They start wondering what's happening to Vocaloid. They start complaining. **

"**The creators are likely aware of Miku's disappearance, providing a reasonable explanation for Rin and Len being shut down. They are no doubt also organizing something to look for Miku, but if they hear that other Vocaloids are missing, what will they think? They'll either think that Miku's kidnapper has taken others, or they'll assume that we've gone to search for Miku.**

"**The Japanese Vocaloids are the only ones with a computer. If they could research what's going on currently with concern to Vocaloids, they could see if people have noticed yet. If they've noticed-**"

"**-we could start being shut down?**" Ran guessed. Gumi looked thoughtful.

"**I don't know. But if we were at risk for that, I believe it would be wise to begin the search immediately, as humans. You can do that, right Ran?"** Gumi said.

"**Temporarily, I think, but why does that matter?**"

"**The only way we can be shut down is as robots, I would think. That makes sense. So as humans, if the creators wanted us to stop, they'd have to find us face to face, which would be nearly impossible, since we'd look different.**"

"**That seems like a rather far-fetched theory with so little to go off of,**" IA said skeptically.

Gumi shrugged. "**But it makes sense, doesn't it?**"

"**So you're saying Meiko's waiting for a report?**" Ran asked, and Gumi nodded in response.

"**But that's only my theory,**" Gumi said with a wave of her hand, and turned to leave.

IA and Ran glanced at each other after Gumi left.

"**Do you think she's right?**" Ran asked.

"**Well, she is smarter than most of us give her credit for,**" IA said. There was silence for a moment. Then IA spoke again. "**What's your opinion of everyone here?**" she asked, out of curiosity.

Ran thought for a moment. "**I guess I don't have any favorites or anything...I already know Eri, Mai, Riku, and Subaru though...so I like them of course. As for new impressions, the Vocaloids that seem to like to have fun are Neru and Gumi, though Neru seems to be trying to be a good leader. Kiyoteru, Oliver, and Haku all appear to be nice, though varying on how outgoing they are. Then of course I respect the leaders of the group, along with Leon and Lola.**"

IA nodded. "**That's pretty much what I think. I also know Gumi personally, and she just really wants to make light of every situation that poses a threat to happiness, basically, and since this is a rather big situation...well, she's not usually this hyper,**" IA said."**But...what's your opinion of me?**" she asked with a small smile.

"**I think we should be good friends,**" Ran replied, without a moment of hesitation, returning the smile.

* * *

><p>Eri scanned the room for a clock before finally locating one above the door. She realized it was still pretty early, so she allowed herself to sink back under the covers of her bed and close her eyes.<p>

_**"I was mean. I yelled at my favorite people in the world. I embarrassed myself. I looked out only for myself."**_

_Eri continued to write in her journal, oblivious of the figure that had just spoken to her. Eri glanced up at the ocean's waves once, but couldn't bring herself to look away afterwards._

_"**I'm friends with them now because they helped me. They helped me out of my selfish world, where only I existed.**"_

_Eri finally looked back down at her journal and wrote slowly and deliberately, thinking through each word that she wrote._

_"__**The truth is, I **_**was**_** special. It's just a fact that shows itself as I'm standing here, in front of you all right now.**__"_

_Eri finally finished writing and sighed as she closed her journal. It was dark out, but she still had to go back to the building before anyone noticed. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder and started to turn around, faintly hearing a familiar voice. The voice was from some sort of memory, but she couldn't quite recall it. If she just got one look at who it was..._

"Eri, wake up."

Eri opened her eyes, and stared at Oliver, who had woken her up.

"Meiko says-"

"Shh," Eri cut him off. She squinted as she tried to remember what her dream was about. She finally gritted her teeth in aggravation and shook her head quickly in a last attempt to recall what she had dreamed. "Why can't I remember?" she cried.

Oliver looked confused. "Um...anyway...Meiko says-"

The door slammed open and Gumi rushed in. "Guys, Rin and Len...they...just...come with me!"

Oliver sighed despite Gumi's apparent impatience. Eri immediately jumped out of bed, and noticed that Mai was doing the same, and the three eventually made it out the door.

Gumi yanked her door open and pointed frantically at Rin and Len's bed. The two Vocaloids were absent, and Eri looked around the room and spotted them walking around the room, curiously eyeing everything in sight.

They turned after the door opened, and were staring at Eri, Oliver, and Mai.

"What exactly is going on?" Len asked.

Oliver turned to Eri and Mai. "Before someone else interrupts me, Meiko says that the creators know that we're missing and wants everyone to go to a meeting," he said, strangely calm for such a sudden surprise.

"...The creators know we're missing? And Rin and Len...just..." Gumi looked like she was in a state between terror and deep thought. She ran into the room and grabbed Rin's and Len's wrists, and pulled the confused Vocaloids out the door. The three others followed after her down the hall.

After arriving at the meeting room, Gumi let go of Rin and Len and ran in, spotting Meiko immediately.

"Meiko, Rin and Len are awake," she said seriously, watching Meiko's expressions.

Meiko said nothing as her gaze moved past Gumi to focus on the two blondes behind her. She finally took a deep breath and nodded. "Then let them say what they have come to say."

Gumi looked slightly confused for a moment, but then realization dawned on her and she stepped aside and motioned for Rin and Len to step forward.

Rin and Len glanced at each other before looking back at Meiko.

"**Miku is shut down,**" Rin said in a quivering voice. "**Her location is unknown. Until the missing Vocaloids are found, trust has been placed on the missing Vocaloids, locations also unknown. Precautions have been programmed into the endangered, assumed to be in the presence of the missing Vocaloids, who have also become endangered.**"

Rin's eyes were wide as she spoke, and after she had finished speaking, worry filled her features. "**What happened...?**" she nearly whispered.

Meiko sat speechless, along with the other Vocaloids and Utauloids, who had all arrived at some point while Rin was talking.

"What was she talking about? Miriam asked Meiko. Meiko cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry, the situation has suddenly become much more intricate. It will be necessary for everyone except Rin and Len to step outside," she announced.

After they were alone, Meiko studied Rin and Len. Len stepped forward, grabbing Rin's arm protectively. "**What didn't you tell us?**" he asked, almost hurt, but more fearful. "**What happened to Older Sister...where is Miku?**"

Meiko sighed. "**I'm very sorry. Miku went missing, the night before we were supposed to depart from the concert. I left without warning, and so soon after, as I am told, you were shut down. Of course I should've known, once you're shut down, the creators of Vocaloid can program information-though not necessarily commands-into you. **

**"I'll need to discuss this with Gumi, but I believe that the creators shut you down originally because they didn't want you searching for Miku and being in danger. They didn't count on so many others, though, but have realized we are, and do not want to shut us down without knowing where we are. Therefore, they have programmed you with information and allowed you to function again, hoping we will be reassured and therefore wait for them to find us and/or give them a signal as to where we are. **

**"However, that's not happening. I know you want to find Miku, as do all of us, and we don't know for sure if the creators would keep up such a search to find Miku, because she's not a friend to them. She is a money maker, and if her memory can be kept alive and used, then they no longer need her. Now, I don't know if they really think that, but I'm not giving up my search.**"

Rin and Len nodded solemnly.

"**So where are we now?**" Rin asked, with a firmness to her voice, as if determination was already beginning to set in.

"**We are in the building that belongs to the English Vocaloids, who are also helping,**" Meiko said. "**So it is important to get used to speaking in English while you're here.**" Meiko received another obedient nod from Rin and Len.

"English Vocaloids?" Len asked curiously. "I didn't know they existed."

"Yes," Meiko said, gladly switching to English. "And there's probably a lot of other things that have happened that you don't know about, but I really need to speak to the rest, so please have a seat and listen as well as you can, and I'll fill in whatever you don't understand afterwards."

Rin and Len walked over and sat in seats next to each other, and Meiko went outside the room and re-entered with the rest of the search party. She sat down at the head of the meeting table, and everyone else sat down best they could, with some left standing.

Meiko took a deep breath. "So, you may all be wondering what is going on right now. In fact, the situation is so sudden that even I am having trouble figuring out how to deal with it. But I suppose this is all just luck's way of getting us moving.

"I haven't had much time to organize my thoughts, so I apologize beforehand. All of you have come on this trip with plans of rescuing Miku, and we are going to do that, but our time may be limited. As far as I can figure, the creators of Vocaloid have begun their own search for us. This is not proven, but we can only assume.

"I don't think that the creators have any idea we are here, and I think that we are safe here, because they are probably depending on the reports of others, since a Vocaloid or Utauloid is not a common public site. However, since we must actually leave to search for Miku, we have to sacrifice some of that security. But, we have something they don't expect: Ran's magic. She has confirmed that we will be able to appear as humans for a temporary period of time, and so those who must leave here will be able to pass as humans while they search.

"I don't think there is any hurry to leave, but Rin and Len waking up has reminded me that we are indeed pressed for time, and that our absence is not ignored. I don't want to leave any details unattended, but I don't want us to waste our time, so I will be busy with Miriam forming plans as to where we need to send our search party. Now, any questions before we depart?"

Rin and Len raised their hands, and Meiko couldn't suppress a smile. "Yes?" she asked them.

"Where are we in all of this?" Len asked.

"We were in that part about them being reminded that they're pressed for time, silly," Rin said, shaking her head sadly. "Really, you should pay more attention."

Len glared at her. "That's definitely not what I meant," he said.

"I have a better question though," Rin interrupted, not letting Meiko answer. "I happen to remember saying that precautions have been programmed in the endangered. What does that mean?" she asked.

Len looked at her in disbelief. "You said it!" he cried. "How do you not know what it means?"

"It was programmed into me, apparently!" she retorted. "I guess I'm no more than a messenger at this point," she huffed.

Small giggles came from around the table, as everyone watched Rin and Len argue. Meiko held up her hands to silence them. "Len, I think I'll have you and Rin stay here. Rin, I really don't know. I guess we might find out, which is partially why I want you to stay here. It'll be better for you to be...contained, for lack of a better word...if something does happened. Now, anybody else?"

Eri tentatively raised her hand. "How exactly are we going to get where we're going, and how do we know where that is?" she asked.

Meiko was silent for a moment, but finally spoke. "Transportation will be decided depending on location. It will most likely be by airplane, though. As for where we are going, that hasn't completely been sorted out yet. However, there is one thing for sure. The search pairs won't all go out at once. The first pair will be sent to the city where the concert was, and be guided to the place where we hired our guide. There could be information in that area. The reality of the situation is that Miku could be anywhere, and without a lead, we will never find her. However, I completely believe that there will be something."

The mood suddenly darkened, but Neru still raised her hand. "How are we going to contact each other?" There was a quiet murmur of agreement, as everyone had been wondering the same thing.

"I'll be providing enough cell phones for us to contact each other sufficiently," Miriam spoke up. "The Engloids do have a small amount of money given to us to order supplies or entertainment, so I've ordered quite a few simple phones. Nothing super expensive, but they'll work for texting and such."

There was a thoughtful silence, and after a few moments, Meiko nodded decisively. "Well then, the meeting is now over. You may go. We will be considering who to send out as the first couple very soon. Rin, Len, if you don't mind, could you please stay here a bit longer?"

As everyone stood from their seats and made their way from the room, Meiko moved closer to Rin and Len.

"So, who do you know that's here?" Meiko asked.

Rin was the one to answer. "All of the Japanese Vocaloids."

"Yes, that makes sense," Meiko replied. "You remember the girl with purple hair?" she asked. Rin and Len nodded. "That's Eri. The Utauloid with blonde hair: Mai. The Utauloid with green hair: Subaru. The Utauloid with Miku's color hair: Riku. As for the English Vocaloids, the boy with blonde hair and bandages over one eye is Oliver, the boy with blonde hair and both eyes is Leon, and the girl with short black hair is Lola. Oh, yes, and the girl with brown hair and angel wings is Ran. Do you think you can remember that?"

Rin smiled cheerfully. "It won't be long until we know them personally," she said, grabbing Len's arm and pulling him out of the room.

Once out of the room, Len yanked his arm out of Rin's grasp and huffed indignantly. Rin stopped in her tracks.

"**Do you kind of wish you could go out and search for Miku?**" Rin asked quietly. "**I mean, I'm glad that someone, maybe Haku, had enough kindness to bring us in the first place, but I don't know if I can just stay here and watch as Miku's fate is decided by someone else.**"

Len put an arm around Rin's shoulders and smiled brightly as he continued to walk slowly, taking Rin along with him. "**Of course I do, but this group is obviously very dedicated to finding Miku, and I think they should be trusted.**"

"**What if Meiko was right, and the creators don't even need Miku anymore?**" Rin asked. "**What if they find out where we are and suddenly shut everyone down without warning, take us back home, and then forget Miku ever existed?**"

A brief shadow of worry passed over Len's face, but he resumed smiling. "**Don't worry about that. Meiko may have said that, but I personally think that's ridiculous. I think Meiko secretly has the same desire that you do, to find Miku herself. Therefore, she's not just going to quit and let someone else find her,**" Len reassured her. "**Don't worry,**" he repeated.

Rin smiled nervously and nodded. Len moved his arm back down to interlock arms with Rin, and the two walked on in silence.

"**Which room do we go in?**" Rin asked after they had reached the hallway where all the rooms were located.

Len pretended to study each door. "**This one looks good,**" he said, pointing to a random door.

Rin giggled. "**May I?**" she asked, and Len smiled and bowed before moving away from the door so that Rin could knock.

"**The things I do for you,**" he said, poking her.

Rin grinned and knocked a couple of times. "**Please, you know you wouldn't survive without me.**"

Their conversation was interrupted by Oliver opening the door. "Hello," he said, slightly unsure of what to do. "Do you want to come in?" he asked, before stepping aside.

"**Dang it, more English,**" Rin muttered. Len nudged her in disapproval. The two entered the room and looked around.

"Eri and Mai?" Len asked, seeing the two girls. "And Oliver?"

All three nodded. Rin clapped. "And we are-"

"Rin and Len," Eri finished, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "It's not like you're internationally famous singers or anything."

Rin tilted her head and looked at Eri. "Yeah, I guess," she said, then grinned. "But it's more fun to introduce yourself instead of just walking in and starting a random conversation."

"That actually seems like something you'd find fun..." Len said, giving Rin a sideways glance.

Rin's eyes widened. "Right! Next room it is!" She darted out the door.

Len followed her quickly. "Rin! That's OUR room!"

Oliver frowned. "It seems like she and Gumi would be best friends..."

Eri suppressed a smile. "Actually, I'm fairly certain she's inseparable from Len. And he's almost like you, from what I've seen at least, so you and Gumi should get along," she said.

"Or you'll be enemies forever," Mai added.

Oliver sighed.

"So who do you think will be the first pair to leave?" Eri asked.

"I have no clue, really," Mai said. "I kind of wish I go, but I guess I should consider it an honor that I was picked to oversee a pair."

"They might send Ran and IA, since they seem pretty capable," Oliver suggested.

"Or Eri and Kiyoteru," Mai said, shrugging. "If you didn't know them personally, you'd think they were _both_ really mature." She ignored a death glare from Eri.

Eri got up suddenly. "Well, speaking of that pairing, I believe I have something to discuss with someone," she said, heading out the door. "Bye."

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><p><strong>You're probably like, "RIN AND LEN? WHAT? IS MIKU JUST GOING TO FALL THROUGH THE ROOF OR SOMETHING?"<strong>

**The answer is no. Miku will be gone for as long as I'm having fun with this story ^.^ But the good thing is that within the next two chapters, someone should be leaving the English Vocaloid house thingy to start the search. I haven't decided who it will be. So if you care, you can go ahead and suggest a pair and I'll think it over. Thanks for reading!**


	7. Mixed Feelings

**Rawr, took a while to write this chapter, and it's pretty short . Sorry. I was pretty busy this week. Remember, bold diolague=Japanese.**

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><p>"So tell me, why are you so unlike yourself lately?" Eri asked casually as she confronted Subaru in the hallway in front of his door.<p>

Subaru halfheartedly tried to glare at Eri, but couldn't make eye contact with her. Eri sighed before glancing right and left and grabbing his wrist and trying to pull him towards the exit. Subaru looked back at Eri questioningly before following her out the door of the building.

Eri let go of Subaru's wrist as he began to follow her, and she led him down the same path she had traveled a few times already. Both Subaru and Eri were quiet during the trip, and when Eri finally stopped at the seashore, Subaru looked quite uncomfortable.

"**Now, I'm going to ask again. Why are you so unlike yourself lately?**" Eri asked authoritatively.

"**Why are **_**you**_** so unlike yourself lately?**" Subaru retorted.

Eri narrowed her eyes at Subaru. "**Would you like me to return to how I was before?**" she asked in a low voice.

Subaru crossed his arms. "**What makes me seem different from usual?**"

Eri resisted the urge to smack some sense into the intelligent being standing before her.

"**You definitely seem depressed**."

"**What does it matter to you? You don't care about me,**" Subaru replied.

Eri opened her mouth to speak but stopped for a moment. "**Well, it sounds worse when you put it like that...**" she muttered. Subaru rolled his eyes.

"**Is there a point to this, or can I leave?**" he asked impatiently.

"**Mai told me that in the meeting that decided everyone's pairs, you were orignially paired with me, but made an excuse.**"

Subaru dropped his arms back down to his sides and stared blankly. "**That's what this is about?**" Eri nodded seriously. "**I thought Riku would be better off with me,**" he stated weakly.

Eri didn't buy it. "**Before this trip I don't think you would ever pass up a chance to be with me.**"

Subaru looked like he was having conflict with himself. He finally spoke again. "**I really don't like to be around you! You're so annoying, and I would have to be an idiot not to realize that! Mai is the one trying to get us together!**" he said, raising his voice.

Eri was taken aback, and anger flickered in her eyes for a moment. "**Is that so?**" she nearly shouted.

"**No!**" Subaru yelled back. The two stared at each other.

"**...No?**" Eri asked, slightly confused.

Subaru clenched his fists. "**Well, it is true about Mai,**" he said, relaxing a bit. Then he grew tense again. "**Please just stop bothering me, so that we can both focus on Miku, who is more important.**"

Eri's expression softened. "**But you're being ridiculously confusing. If you're going to lie, at least don't insult me,**" she said somewhat bitterly.

Subaru paced back and forth with restlessness. "**We're both playing pretend, you know, so we might as well just keep going and pretend we don't even know each other,**" he said.

"**Or we could pretend to be friends,**" Eri said.

Subaru stopped and sighed. "**But I don't want to pretend.**"

"**Real friends don't tell lies,**" Eri pointed out.

"**Fine. We'll each tell the truth about something,**" Subaru said decidedly.** "I did like you, for a long time, but you distanced yourself, so I had to give up. Mai tried to be inconspicuous, but I know she often tried to get me to interact with you, and I didn't have a problem with it, because a part of me still liked you. When you picked me as one of the people you brought along on this search, I was hopeful that you might not actually hate me, but then Mai pointed out you and Kiyoteru together on the plane, probably trying to make me jealous, and I will admit it worked. When I got paired with you for the search party, it just didn't feel right to torture you like that, so I made an excuse. I didn't mean to make you end up with Kiyoteru, though.**''

Eri pursed her lips, unsure how to respond.

"**Now I want to know why you brought me along,**" Subaru said, waiting for Eri's explanation.

Eri was caught off guard. She racked her mind for why she had picked him. "**I-I don't know,**" she said, feeling guilty for not having an answer. "**I really don't,**" she admitted.

She noticed Subaru's slightly hurt look and then shook her head quickly. "**But I'm glad that I did,**" she offered. "**So we can be friends, and not play pretend anymore?**"

Eri offered to shake hands with Subaru, and they did so with an awkward silence lingering. "**If it's helpful at all, I think Mai finally realized you're willing to let go,**" Eri said quietly.

Subaru looked slightly surprised, but nodded nonetheless. After another short silence, he managed to grin. "**Good luck with Kiyoteru,**" he said with a quick wink before turning to go back along the path to the building. Eri watched him go, not wanting to walk back with him, but soon followed, since she didn't want to spend too much time isolated.

Back at the building, Eri discovered it was a good thing she came back. Everyone was busing trying to organize for a meeting on who to send out first.

"We're getting together in the first meeting room! Spread the word!" Meiko was saying to anyone who was in the halls. Eri immediately checked her room and saw that it was empty, and quickly made her way to the meeting room. She found Mai, Oliver, Gumi, Rin, and Len present along with Miriam.

After a few minutes of silence and Meiko's distant endeavors to collect everyone, the rest of the Vocaloids and Utauloids filed into the room and found a seat. Miriam stood and began to speak.

"Before we start what I had originally planned, Meiko and I received an interesting request from Rin, and after we discussed it with those it concerned, we came to the conclusion that it is best to make a change to the pairings. Leon has agreed to step down from his position as Luka's partner to trade with Rin, who expressed a strong desire to actively search. Leon agreed that it could be useful to have Rin out searching, so take her into consideration when thinking about the following situation.

"As we discussed earlier, we're going to be picking one pair to send to the city where the concert was to try to find a lead. This could be hard, seeing how everyone is involved, but please try your best to be impartial, and think about what abilities everyone has to offer. Remember that ability to adapt to the new lifestyle the searchers will be taking on is important too. Any thoughts to start us off?"

Everyone was silent, afraid to suggest something. Finally, Len spoke up. "Not Rin."

Rin glared at him and he looked in another direction to avoid eye contact. He couldn't keep a grin from forming, though.

"What?" he said, eventually looking back at Rin. "I don't trust you to focus without a set goal."

Luka laughed lightly. "It's okay Rin, he's probably right. You do seem a bit hyper, which will come in handy when we get some sort of clue on where to search, but for now, we should leave it to someone who can work in a timely manner."

Rin crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue at Len.

All of the Utauloids were quiet, feeling inferior to the opinions of the Vocaloids. IA spoke up. "Maybe Gumi and Oliver?" she suggested.

Three exclamations were simultaneously heard from Gumi, Oliver, and Neru.

"I thought we just established we'd pick a pair who could work in a timely manner!" Neru cried.

"You were the one who suggested they should be together..." Mai said.

"Really?" Gumi asked. "Good thing I picked you as our guide person!" she said enthusiastically.

"Why couldn't they work in a timely manner?" IA asked, trying to stay on track.

Neru just stared blankly. "I guess they could...but why did you pick them, of all of us? Why not Ran and yourself?"

"I don't know if my magic will work when I make myself human, so I want to be the last person who changes," Ran said.

"Oh, did you ever figure out how long that lasts?" Haku asked, speaking for the first time so far.

"Kaito might know, so I'll text him after the meeting."

"Speaking of that, can you like...turn your magic off...at will?" Gumi asked.

Ran thought for a moment. "I think so, but remember I'm not sure if it will still work while I'm human, so we might be stuck like that until it wears off."

"Wait, we have to wait until it wears off?" Neru asked. "So we could either run out of time, or be stuck as humans for like five years?"

"It wouldn't last that long..." Ran said. "I don't think my magic would last more than six months, but I don't know since I've never tried."

"Ahem," Meiko said, smiling. "We need to get back to the original matter. Ran can text Kaito in a while. Do any of the boys have anything to say?" she asked, looking at the quiet group.

"Well, now that Gumi and Oliver have been suggested, I don't think anyone else can think of a better pair..." Riku offered.

Oliver looked at him in disbelief.

"It's probably true," Subaru said. "Gumi and Oliver should go first."

"Yeah, so let's pick us and move on with things!" Gumi said, her eyes wide with anticipation.

"Well, if that's the case, we'll need to come up with certain 'characters' for you two to adopt. You need a disguise to sort of live by, since this is a rather long ordeal. Any ideas on what they would work best as?"

"They should be a brother and sister!" Rin cried enthusiastically.

"Nah, we get along too well for that," Gumi said, getting up and going over to Oliver to pat him on the head.

"Then a couple?" Neru asked.

"That could be problematic..." IA said.

"Even a happily married couple?" Rin said, quickly changing her opinion.

"Actually that could work," Meiko said.

"Don't I get any say in this?" Oliver asked quickly.

"Nope," Gumi replied cheerfully. "You're my husband now."

"That's a little bit scary..." Oliver said quietly.

"Oh come on, you have to admit it'll be fun! Have you never tried playing pretend?" Gumi asked.

"No."

Gumi pouted. "Well, this will be a first, but with my help, we shall have so much fun!" she said.

"Well, it looks like it's settled then," Miriam said, smiling at the lively group. "Meiko, Haku and I have some final things to discuss, so since you're already all here, how about you go ahead and decide the rest of the relationships the pairs will have while we talk, okay?"

"I will now be taking over!" Gumi said as Meiko and Miriam left the room.

"Go sit down in your own seat, Gumi," Oliver said, rolling his eyes.

Gumi huffed and went back to her seat.

"So to start off, I think me and Luka should be sisters!" Rin said. "That would work, right Luka?"

"You might seem a little bit young, but I guess we could pull it off," Luka said, shrugging.

"Right, then Subaru and Riku should be brothers," Rin continued, pointing to the two in turn.

"Obviously I'm the older brother here," Riku said with faked authority.

Mai glared at him. "Shush, little one."

"Ran and IA can be best buddies," Gumi said, glancing at IA and Ran. "Since they look the same age."

"Awesome, I'm the only one stuck in a romantic relationship," Oliver said sarcastically.

"Hey, it works for us," Gumi said, crossing her arms. She studied Eri and Kiyoteru. "Aha! Eri can be Kiyoteru's daughter!"

Eri's eyes widened. "What...I don't..."

"Yeah, they look like they have a significant age difference," said Rin.

Eri took a quick glance at Kiyoteru, who had pretty much the same expression on his face as Eri.

Eri pressed her face into her hands. Mai patted her on the back. "Yep, I think it works," Mai said cheerfully.

"Then it's settled!" Gumi said.

"**Somebody please tell me this is a joke,**" Eri said quietly so that only Mai could hear.

Everyone eventually made their way out of the room, separating to go to their own rooms.

"**Have you even said anything to Kiyoteru since the plane ride?**" Mai asked Eri as they entered their own room.

"**I don't think so,**" Eri said.

"**Come on, you really should say something to him,**" Mai said as Oliver walked into the room.

"**Yeah we'll be having such great conversations as we pretend to be father and daughter.**"

"**Well at least this way, people will just think you have bad mood swings**," Mai said.

Eri glared at Mai.

"**Hey, don't look at me like that. Now go talk to Kiyoteru. I order you to.**"

"**I think this is called peer pressure...**" Eri mumbled before reluctantly walking out the door.

She went to the room that she knew belonged to the four guys and knocked quickly, regretting doing so immediately after. Riku opened the door and grinned brightly, retreating back into the room.

"**I assume you didn't come here to talk to me,**" he said over his shoulder as Eri slowly entered the room.

"**Um, well, I actually don't have a good reason that I came here,**" Eri said nervously, wondering what exactly she had been thinking she would say.

"**Mai?**" Subaru asked with a questioning gaze. Eri nodded quickly.

Kiyoteru glanced between Eri and Subaru. "**I was just about to go read in the extra meeting room,**" he said. "**Want to come with me?**"

Riku frowned. "**That sounds **_**really**_** boring,**" he said. Subaru elbowed him lightly.

"**Do you even have a book?**" Eri asked, not seeing one anywhere in sight.

Kiyoteru looked around, then turned back to Eri and shrugged. "**Oops. I guess you have to come, now, since I have nothing to do**," he said, smiling slightly.

Eri managed a smile. "**Okay then,**" she agreed.

The two walked down the hallway and into the empty room. Eri sat down at a chair and Kiyoteru sat in one opposite of her, and an awkward silence settled for a few moments.

"**So do you think it's a good idea to send Oliver and Gumi first?**" Kiyoteru asked.

"**Yeah,**" Eri said quietly. "**From what I've seen of those two, Gumi will listen to Oliver as long as Oliver speaks up. I think it'll work out. What about you?**"

"**To be honest, I haven't really been that social here, so I shouldn't have a say in anyone's pairing,**" Kiyoteru replied.

"**Really?**" Eri asked, genuinely surprised. "**You seem like you're good at making conversation**."

"**Only towards people who seem more shy than me,**" he said matter-of-factly. "**Everyone here besides you seems pretty outgoing, except maybe Ran and IA, but they seem to be drawn towards each other. And in reality, I'm a bit intimidated by them.**"

Eri laughed. "**Why? Ran's my roommate back at home, and I bet you know IA, so I'm sure we could agree that they're not intimidating in the least.**"

"**They just seem too mature, like they're the mothers of this group or something,**" Kiyoteru said, smiling.

"**Oh? So what about Meiko and Miriam? Or even Haku? Are you intimidated by them? Are you intimidated by those who seem better than you? Are you intimidated by Miku, Rin, Len, and even Luka?**" Eri attacked him with questions.

Kiyoteru raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "**I guess so.**"

Eri sank back in her seat. "**So you're kind of like an Utauloid, then.**"

Kiyoteru tilted his head. "**Have I missed something? Is there a natural difference in Utauloids that causes them to be less social than Vocaloids?**"

"**It seems like it,**" Eri said, crossing her arms.

"**What about Teto? She seems pretty lively.**"

Eri sighed. "**You still don't get it? Think about it. Teto doesn't have anything to worry about. She's almost as famous as Miku, I bet, with the amount of songs she gets. Now, for the rest of us, we're kind of left behind. Do you even know how many Utauloids hardly ever get to sing? Did you know that Ran hasn't even sang one song?**" Eri asked, her voice rising.

"**And just because you sing less, you can't gather enough courage to try to make friends?**" Kiyoteru asked calmly.

"**You just said you were intimidated by popular Vocaloids, so you can't try to give me advice!**" Eri almost shouted, regretting it instantly.

"**I think the father-daughter relationship works,**" Kiyoteru mused.

Eri blushed in embarrassment, though she didn't know what she was embarrassed about. "**It seems really awkward to me,**" she said quietly.

"**How is it awkward?**" Kiyoteru asked casually. Eri thought she caught a mixture of curiousity and amusement in his voice, though.

Eri was silent for a moment. "**I...I mean...-**"

Eri was cut off by Meiko's voice suddenly calling out in the hallway. "Everyone, we're having yet another meeting! Spread the word!"

There was the sound of doors opening, and those who had heard began to knock on the doors that were further away. Eri sighed with relief and laughed nervously as she got up and started to head out the door. "**I wonder what it's about this time,**"

The main meeting room eventually filled and Ran was the one to stand up. "I present to you: Gumi and Oliver," she said, and motioned towards the door.

Eri glanced around the room, just noticing that Gumi and Oliver hadn't entered. After hearing a collective gasp, she looked over at the doorway and gasped herself; Oliver and Gumi looked like humans.

Completely forgetting everything else, Eri quickly looked at every detail that was different about the two. Both looked a bit older, and Gumi had brown hair instead of green hair, her outfit was rather commonplace and modest, and Eri had to stifle a giggle as she noticed a wedding ring. Oliver still had blonde hair, but he actually had two eyes, and his clothes were more modern.

The room was quickly filled with excited murmurs and exclamations. Gumi smiled.

"Aw, I wish I was a human," Neru said. "They're so pretty..."

Oliver sighed.

"But I'll tell you now, Kaito said this will last for two months. No more, no less," Ran said. "And while you're human, your voice won't be the same, so I suggest you get to know your partner's appearance very well, because it might take a while to recognize their voice."

Meiko spoke up. "Oliver and Gumi will be leaving tomorrow on an airplane, most likely at a very early time, so get your goodbyes in tonight. You may leave now."

As Eri made her way back to her room, she didn't bother to try talking to Kiyoteru again, but instead grabbed her journal and quickly left the building.

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><p><strong>Well, I hope that fixed up some opinions on Subaru. And I haven't had much with Kiyoteru yet since he DOES get most of the rest of the story with Eri. Ahaha poor Eri, having to be Kiyoteru's daughter. <strong>

**And up next, we get some Gumi and Oliver development, yay xD**


	8. Two Months' Time Begins

**It takes me longer and longer to upload chapters =_= But this one is here, so enjoy.**

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><p>The sun was starting to set and the wind was blowing hard when Eri reached the shore, and she admired the view for a few minutes before sitting down and flipping her journal open, beginning to write.<p>

"_**Well, tomorrow is going to be an interesting day. Tomorrow, Gumi and Oliver are leaving to search for a lead on where Miku could be. They're going in disguise as humans, of course, and are supposedly a married couple, which I have to admit is pretty ironic. I don't really know what married couples are like, but I know they're supposed to like each other. This marriage seems pretty one-sided.**_

_**When I get to start on my search, I'm going with Kiyoteru, and...I have to pretend I'm his daughter. That's really awkward. Do we really look like we have such an age difference? I've seen Yuki a few times, and she's the only one I know that could pass as looking like a kid (though I've heard she's actually quite mature.)**_

_**I shouldn't keep writing about Subaru, but I kind of want to get it off my chest. I think he actually did something nice for me. I mean, he was talking pretty fast, but I think he mentioned that I was originally paired with him for the search...and then he made an excuse so I wouldn't have to be with him? I guess it's not weird for him to do something nice for me, but I actually appreciate the thought this time. It's kind of ironic though, when I finally am okay with him is the one time he decided to distance himself from me. Ugh I need to stop going on about him.**_

_**Okay, so...Rin and Len actually started functioning again. It's kind of a mystery why, even though I think some of us have it figured out, but I'm still pretty clueless, but oh well. Everyone's getting along, even though I had a tiny argument with Kiyoteru. I think by now, everyone sort of has a feeling for the personalities that are here, and there are little groups that seem to go together.**_

_**IA and Ran are sort of like the equivalent of mothers, I suppose, because they're really mature but they aren't quite leaders like Meiko, Miriam, or Haku. Gumi is really outgoing and has an attachment to Oliver, who appears to reject her but I bet he really doesn't mean it. Rin and Len are relatively new to this, so they're just a little group in themselves. All the guys seem to stick pretty close (except Oliver.) I think Luka spends most of her time with the leaders, and of course I have Mai. Then there's Neru, who just sort of follows everybody. She doesn't really have a group, but she fits in with anyone. I think she wishes she was a leader, but doesn't feel like she has the authority.**_

_**But I don't know, just my thoughts. We'll see how the search goes tomorrow...**_

Eri shut her journal and lay down to stare up at the dimming sky. After a few moments, Eri closed her eyes, lulled by the sound of the waves.

"You like it here too?"

Eri jumped at the unkown voice, and opened her eyes to see a figure looming above her. She turned around and tried to focus on who it was, slowly registering that the speaker was English.

"Oliver? You know about this place?"

The human Oliver nodded. "Someone had to make the path, didn't they?"

"Oh, right," Eri said. "Do the other English Vocaloids know about it too?"

"Nope, just me," Oliver said. "They never really go outside." He sat down.

"So how did you figure out where this was?"

"I got lonely," Oliver admitted. "I'm one of the more recently created English Vocaloids, and I just didn't, and sometimes still don't, feel comfortable with the others. So I wandered. I actually didn't care if I got lost, but I eventually came to this place. Of course, as much as I loved this place, I knew I still had to sing, since that's what I was created for."

Eri's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, that's right, you guys have songs to sing. How are you going to deal with that while you're human? How is anyone going to deal with that?" she asked, partially to herself.

Oliver shrugged. "As long as Miku's not singing, we're not singing. If the creators want to try to hide it, they can go right ahead, but I'm sure that everyone would agree that we want to be the ones to find Miku, and won't return until we do."

"How do you speak with such dedication about someone you've never even met?" Eri asked in awe. "I feel kind of guilty now, but when I suggested a search party, I wasn't really thinking about Miku...I was thinking more about my interests."

Oliver smiled. "How would you feel, if you were lost, perhaps taken forcefully?"

"Panicked, scared," Eri replied.

"And if you knew that there was a search party formed just for you, not because you were popular, but because you had friends that cared about you, how would you feel?"

"Hopeful," Eri said quietly. "But I didn't form the search party because I cared about her."

"Can I see your journal?" Oliver asked, holding out his hand.

Eri nodded and handed it over. Oliver found a recent page a read a few lines.

"But your motive has changed," he said, smiling. Before Eri could say anything, Oliver tore the page out of the journal and throwing it up into the windy air. Eri opened her mouth to say something as it tumbled through the air, but instead just watched quietly until it was out of sight.

"What was that for...?"

"That was for Miku," Oliver answered surely.

Eri laughed without warning. "You actually are like Gumi, in a way."

"Oh dear, how?" Oliver asked, rolling his eyes slightly at the mention of Gumi's name.

"You're both really smart, and the smartness is opposite of your other personality," Eri replied. "Gumi is talkative and lighthearted, but when she stops and thinks, I think she's really serious and logical. You're quiet and the slightest bit dismissive, but when you stop and think, you're sweet and wise. I wonder if Meiko and Miriam realized that when you two got picked."

Oliver blushed lightly, though it wasn't noticeable in the dim light. "And here I thought you were just quiet and bitter."

"Is that really what your first impression of me was?" Eri asked, knowing she shouldn't be surprised.

Oliver nodded. "Remember playing musical chairs? You seemed kind of annoyed, from what I could see. But I don't know, maybe I'd be annoyed if I were in your position."

"Do you like to put yourself in other people's positions?" Eri asked, standing up without waiting for an answer. "It's kind of late, so I'm going to head back, if you want to come with me," she added. Oliver nodded and stood and the two went back together.

. . .

In the morning, Eri awoke to a gentle tapping at the door. Her eyes widened a moment later when the door was opened by Oliver to reveal Gumi and Meiko. Eri glanced over at Mai's bed and saw that she was also awake.

Gumi was smiling with subdued anticipation, but Meiko looked quite serious. Oliver followed them out of the room and the door shut behind them.

"**Are you going back to sleep?**" Mai asked. Eri laughed as she thought about how she would have taken up that offer on any day at home.

"**Ha, I doubt I can sleep at this point. But I don't want to be a stalker and follow them,**" she replied.

"**So we'll wait until later. For now, what time is it?**" Mai asked.

Eri squinted over at the clock. "**Not even 7 a.m. Ugh, I didn't get much sleep at all.**"

"**Then go back to sleep! It's not that hard,**" Mai said, putting her hands behind her head and pretending to go to sleep.

"**Nope,**" Eri said and flung the covers back. She slid out of bed and darted out the door.

Mai sighed and met up with her in front of the boys' room. Eri knocked and Mai witnessed as a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her inside. Mai quickly stepped inside to see what had happened and saw Riku beaming with a pillow in his hands.

"**We were just about to have a pillow fight,**" Riku said happily. Mai rolled her eyes.

"**And whose idea was that?**" she asked sarcastically.

"**Who cares,**" Eri said, "**let's go get pillows.**"

Mai frowned slightly as Eri ran out of the room with a smile on her face. "**What happened to her?**" she asked, taken by surprise at Eri's uncharacteristic behavior. The guys in the room shrugged. "**Maybe she's delirious from lack of sleep,**" Mai decided with a wave of her hand.

Eri arrived a moment later with her arms full pillows. "**Here, Mai, you can have two since Oliver can't participate,**" she offered. There was a knock at the door. Riku curiously opened it to see Rin and Len.

Rin spoke up. "**Why did...um...**"

"**Eri,**" Len said for her.

"**Yeah, Eri, why did she just run by with pillows?**" Rin asked suspiciously.

Eri's smile dropped somewhat out of habitual negative thoughts returning about the famed singers.

"**We're having a pillow fight,**" Subaru spoke up from where he was sitting on his bed.

Rin beamed and clapped her hands. "**I love pillow fights!**" she exclaimed. "**Len, go get our pillows,**" she instructed, pointing out the door. Len reluctantly obeyed while grumbling about childish games on his way out.

"**We're never going to have a pillow fight at this rate,**" Riku said and sighed.

"**We should have some rules,**" Rin said decidedly. "**Kiyoteru, I put you in charge of coming up with some rules.**"

Kiyoteru blinked and then shook his head quickly. "**I wasn't really planning on playing,**" he said.

Riku's shoulders sagged. "**Eri, convince him to play,**" he said, putting his hands on his hips.

Eri's expression grew defensive. "**Why me?**" she asked in a high voice, then caughte herself. "**I mean, you're his roommate.**"

"**Kiyoteru, play,**" Riku ordered, turning to Kiyoteru.

A smile crept onto Kiyoteru's face. "**No,**" he said tauntingly. Riku turned back to Eri and shrugged.

By this time Len had returned and was trying to stop Rin from staring at the scene so intently. Eri opened her mouth to say something, but just then, a call was heard from outside the room for everyone to say goodbye to Gumi and Oliver if they wanted to.

Eri left the room, glad for a distraction. She looked around and spotted Gumi and Oliver standing at the exit door. She had to admit, even though she had never seen a real married couple, she was sure they had to look like Gumi and Oliver.

"Good luck," she said, nodding at the two. There was a chorus of goodbyes and good lucks from behind her, since everyone had followed her out of the room. Also present to say goodbyes were Luka, Miriam, Lola, Haku, and Neru.

"Thank you," Gumi said happily, before saluting playfully and pushing the door open to walk out towards the airplane that had arrived on the makeshift landing strip. Oliver followed her and everyone crowded outside to watch the plane take off.

Five minutes later, after the two had departed, everyone came back inside and the previous participants in the planned pillow fight reassembled.

"**So, as I was saying, Eri, convince Kiyoteru to play,**" Riku restated. Eri sighed.

"**I kind of want to go see Neru and keep track of what texts come in,**" she said, tilting her head.

"**There really shouldn't be anything interesting until the plane lands,**" Kiyoteru pointed out.

Eri raised her eyebrows. "**So you're convincing me to convince you to play?**"

Kiyoteru crossed his arms and put on a straight face. "**Figure that out yourself.**"

"**Okay, break it up, enough flirting,**" Rin said sarcastically. "**Kiyoteru, you can poke fun at Eri all you want if you play with us.**"

"**Fair enough,**" Kiyoteru said with a smile. Eri rolled her eyes. Rin grinned with mischief and grabbed her pillow up in a determined stance.

"**Name three rules,**" Rin instructed, bending her knees slightly and holding her pillow up next to her shoulder.

Kiyoteru picked up his pillow. "**You can't win if you fall on the floor.**"

"**That sounds violent**," Len said quietly.

"**Shush, no one asked you,**" Rin said while remaining motionless.

"**You can't win if you drop your pillow,**" Kiyoteru continued. Riku started to stuff his pillow under his clothes.

Rin nodded. "**Excellent.**"

"**And you can't win if your name is Eri.**"

"**What kind of stupid rule is that?**" Eri cried.

"**...Unless you keep your eyes shut the whole time.**"

Eri shoved her face into the pillow. "**I hate you all,**" she said. Rin shrugged.

"**Ready,**" Rin said. Subaru got off the bed and Len quickly grabbed a pillow.

"**Set,**" Riku added, deciding on keeping his pillow out of his shirt.

"**Go!**" Rin said, and turned on Len to beat him with her pillow. Len bent down with his pillow shielding his head, trying to run away from Rin's determined strength. Subaru hit Riku from the side and Riku instantly lost his balance and ended up on the floor.

"**Why are you so light?**" Subaru asked, standing still for a moment before joining Kiyoteru in a battle against Eri and Mai.

"**Why are you so strong?**" Riku cried before trying to get out of the way so he wouldn't be trampled.

Eri was standing frozen in place with her eyes squeezed shut while Mai stepped around her, trying to keep Kiyoteru and Subaru away.

"**Go help Len or something,**" Mai said to Riku as she swung quickly at Subaru, sounding irritated. "**The rule only said you couldn't win, not that you were officially done playing.**"

Riku leaped off the floor and ran over to try to face Rin. "**Right,**" he said, and braced himself to block Rin's increasingly eager attacks.

Eri finally pulled herself together enough to start blindly swinging. She heard a muffled cry from Mai and almost opened her eyes. "**Sorry,**" she called out, and turned to hit in another direction, making sure to keep a tight grip on her pillow.

Eri felt a quick sense of panic wash over her as a pillow hit her side and the sensation of falling engulfed her. However, she was suddenly caught by hands that she knew had to belong to Mai.

"**Why'd you let go of your pillow?**" Eri heard Subaru ask. She didn't hear a reply from Mai, so she just moved towards the sound of Subaru's voice and swung her pillow as hard as she could. She was rewarded with a satisfying thud as her pillow came in contact with some part of Subaru.

Encouraged by her apparent success, Mai continued pressing onward, making sure not to lose Subaru, which wasn't hard since he was also hitting her back. Eri swung her arms over her head to bring her pillow down in front of her when she felt a harsh blow to her back.

She stumbled forward and found herself smashing into someone whom she assumed to be Subaru. Not wanting to lose, Eri hopped sideways but sent her pillow crashing down towards the figure, and smiled as she heard a triumphant cheer from Mai.

Eri took a guess and turned towards where she thought her attacker should be. Her pillow was met by one of equal strength and she pressed onwards. "**May I ask who I'm going up against?**" she called out.

"**It's actually Kiyoteru, but-**"

Mai's voice stopped and Eri paused her blind attack to regain her bearings. A thud could be heard in front of her, and she waited for something to hit her.

"**Rin just attacked him from behind,**" Mai continued, "**after it looks like she just took Len down. Now-**"

Eri gasped as two pillows hit her from both sides. She started to swing again and tried to glare with her eyes closed at the direction she thought Mai would be in, which failed of course.

"**Now they're both attacking you,**" Mai continued to announce.

"**Gee thanks, I didn't know,**" Eri replied sarcastically as she felt herself cornered at the wall.

"**Don't let them hit your pillow out of your hands!**" Mai warned. "**Though it would be interesting to see them fight for the win.**"

Eri swung as hard as she could but received two strong hits in return. "**Yeah, you're being really helpful, why can't you come over here and defend me?**" Eri asked as she grasped her pillow as tightly as she could.

"**We're kind of just spectating over here,**" Eri heard Riku say from the same general direction as Mai. Eri sighed.

"**At least Rin won't be able to knock you down with your back to the wall like that,**" Len offered.

Eri's arms were starting to get tired as she tried to hold off the relentless blows. She resorted to holding the pillow above her head and running forward with as much force as she could. She was met with resistance but eventually broke through Kiyoteru and Rin. She spun around and swung her pillow sideways with her as hard as possible.

"**Hit again quickly!**" Eri heard Mai shout. She did as she was told and realized that the person she had hit had probably lost their balance. Feeling more confident Eri continued to swing towards either Rin or Kiyoteru, whoever was left.

"**Watch out!**" came Riku's voice, but before Eri could respond about how her eyes were closed, a pillow came crashing into her shoulder and she fell sideways. Opening her eyes to glare up from the floor, Eri saw Kiyoteru smirking slightly.

"**Why are you so good at everything?**" Riku complained.

"**Why are you so bad at everything...**" Mai mumbled, rolling her eyes.

Kiyoteru extended his hand for Eri and she reluctantly let him pull her up.

"**At least you beat Rin,**" Len commented. "**She was pretty determined**." Rin stuck out her tongue at Len.

"**So should we go see if Neru has any news from Oliver and Gumi yet?**" Eri finally asked. She received nods from the majority of people in the room, so she turned and made her way out the door to go find Neru.

. . .

"Do you think two months will be enough time? Should we text Neru yet? I don't know if this costs anything... Oh my gosh will we have enough money to live in California for two months? We'll have to be like homeless people or something. I think I've heard some songs about orphans before...they're usually sad...I don't want to be an orphan! You kind of look like-"

Gumi was cut off as Oliver quickly put his hand over her mouth. "You've been talking this entire plane ride. Settle down."

Gumi narrowed her eyes as Oliver took his hand away from her. "I'm just worried, that's all," she said, crossing her arms.

"Doubt it," Oliver said.

Gumi gave him a sideway glance. "Why wouldn't I be worried?"

"You aren't acting worried."

"I don't have to act worried to be worried!" Gumi protested.

"Yes, but if you were really worried, you wouldn't be concerned with something like orphans looking sad," Oliver replied.

"Hmph," Gumi said, and looked down at her lap. "You're too calm. It's no fun. What happened to you being scared of me?"

"I thought you'd be less likely to goof off if I didn't give you a response you were hoping for," Oliver said.

Gumi sighed. "Fine, I'll be mature. But I prefer your shy little kid personality."

"We don't look like little kids, so you have to remember not to act like one."

"But no one can see us right now, so you don't have to be so uptight," Gumi complained.

"I feel like you would be creeped out if I suddenly changed mannerisms without warning," Oliver mused.

Gumi didn't answer, as she had pulled out the phone they had been given to check a message. After reading it quickly, Gumi looked over at Oliver. "My name is now Gwen, apparently. Supposedly that's a more English name than Gumi. Does it sound English to you? I don't really know."

Oliver tilted his head. "I don't really know of many English names, but I know it's not Japanese, so it should be fine."

Gumi looked back at the phone and suddenly laughed. "And your name is Owen!"

Oliver narrowed his eyes and tried to look at the phone. "What kind of joke is that? My name is already English."

"Yeah, but people might become suspicious, if you're popular," Gumi pointed out.

"I'm not," Oliver said quietly. "And I am _not_ going to have a name that goes with yours. That's even more suspicious. Why would married couples have similar names?"

Gumi grinned. "But I think it's cute."

"Nope, I'm sticking with Oliver, and the others can't stop me. You can be Gwen, because Gumi is a weird name."

"Okay, but you're going to have to deal with me calling you Ollie," Gumi said cheerfully.

Oliver sighed and frowned at Gumi. "Should I call you Gwee-Gwee then?"

Gumi burst out laughing. "What kind of nickname is that?" she said in between giggles.

"Yours," Oliver said, trying to hold back a smile.

"People are going to think we're so weird," Gumi said, after she finally finished laughing.

"Whatever you say, Gwee-Gwee."

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter actually turned out to be less focused on Gumi and Oliver than I had planned. But that was a pretty epic pillow fight.<strong>

**This story is like getting no views compared to Rising to Fame. That's not true, but I still get more hits on the original every time I upload a chapter of this than I do on this actual story. Ah well. I suppose the sequel almost never lives up to the first one, right? I'm still having fun with it though, so I hope it's not moving too slowly. This is definitely going to be longer than Rising to Fame. Just so you know. Be prepared.**


	9. Let's Play Pretend

**Okay, I'm very sorry for the long wait. Two weeks after I posted chapter 8, I opened up chapter 9 and realized I had only written 1000 words so far -_- so now it's been three weeks, but I hope the quality makes up for the wait. The good news is that the reason I was so slow was that I was studying for finals, but now school's out for me and I can write freely! :D**

* * *

><p>Gumi and Oliver gasped simultaneously as they exited the plane.<p>

"There are so many people," Gumi whispered as she moved closer to Oliver. "Okay, now what are we supposed to do?"

Oliver sighed. "Didn't you pay attention to Meiko? There's a car waiting for us outside. Now be useful and find out how to get out."

Gumi and Oliver began to walk, with Gumi looking in every direction for signs. "Why me?" she asked as they walked. "You're the natural English speaker here."

"I need to text Neru," Oliver replied coolly.

"No, I have the phone," Gumi said, suddenly stopping and crossing her arms. "You read the signs, I'll text."

"Fine." Oliver said, squinting at the nearest sign. "Baggage claim...terminal...bathrooms...which one are we supposed to go to?"

"I'm pretty sure we don't want bathrooms..." Gumi said. "I've heard of them, but I've never seen one. Actually, I really want to see one now. We should go that way!" Gumi said, forgetting about texting.

"Gu- Gwen, we need to focus. We don't have all the time in the world, you know. Let's try baggage claim, even though we don't have any baggage."

Gumi giggled at the name. "You sound old. You should go back to being young."

Oliver sighed once more and moved onward, and Gumi pulled the phone out of her pocket to text. After they arrived at the baggage claim, Oliver glanced around again and spotted the correct way to exit.

"Hey, we need to get on this bus," Oliver said, pointing to the bus that Meiko had advised him to get on. Gumi looked up.

"Where will it take us?" Gumi asked as she walked towards it with Oliver.

"Car rental," Oliver replied as they boarded.

"Car rental?" Gumi asked, her eyes wide. "Car...as in those?" she asked, pointing to all of the parked cars through the window. Oliver nodded.

"And no, you're not driving," Oliver said when he saw the look on Gumi's face.

"Hey, I helped fly the airplane that got the Japanese Vocaloids and Utauloids to your home," Gumi protested. "I am very adept at the art of navigation."

"Then you can drive, but remember, we need to keep this car undamaged for two months."

"Isn't that going to cost a lot of money?" Gumi asked with concern.

"The English Vocaloids don't spend much of their money, so we have a lot saved up," Oliver said.

"Oh," Gumi said quietly, looking down at her lap. "You guys are sacrificing so much for Miku."

"If we were going to be concerned about anything, I'd be concerned about the amount of time we have," Oliver said, worry edging his voice.

"Well," Gumi said, brightening up, "We actually have ten months, if we neeeded it, you know? The magic may not last on us any more after two months, but I'm sure it'd still last on the others. I don't think we'll need that much time though, with me searching," she said proudly.

"You're so modest," Oliver said, shaking his head.

* * *

><p>Eri and Mai wandered throughout the building, unsure of what to do. It was already evening, and there still hadn't been any significant texts from Gumi and Oliver. Eri knew the search wasn't started for entertainment values, but she still found herself wandering back towards the extra meeting room where Neru was staying.<p>

As Eri peeked into the room for perhaps the tenth time in an hour, she saw Neru actually typing. Eri quickly walked into the room and Mai followed.

"Did you get a text from Gumi and Oliver?" Eri asked with suppressed eagerness; after all, she felt kind of silly being so worked up about something. It was more in Riku's personality to do that.

Neru nodded, her eyes not leaving the phone. "**I do speak Japanese, you know**," she said shortly.

Eri smiled slightly, feeling embarassed for no particular reason. "I figured I might as well get used to English, for when I have to go on a search."

"Fine, well, Oliver and Gumi have apparently rented a car and are on their way to the place where Meiko hired the guide," Neru said.

"Where exactly are they supposed to be staying?"

Eri turned to see Riku and Subaru standing in the doorway, Riku having just asked the question.

"See, that's a difficulty we're going to have," Neru replied. "We don't actually have anywhere for anyone to stay."

"What?" Subaru asked. "What are we supposed to do then?"

"To quote Meiko, 'learn on the job,'" Neru said with a shrug.

Riku grabbed Subaru's arm. "That sounds dangerous," he said nervously.

Subaru glared at the short Utauloid and pulled his arm away. He then replaced his frown with a smile so quickly that Eri wasn't sure if it was fake or not. "I'm sure Gumi could talk anyone into letting her stay in their home," he said coolly.

"Yeah well what about us?" Riku asked. "Subaru's not exactly the most charming guy out there. I mean, look how much Eri hates him."

For a moment, Eri caught a glimpse of hurt in Subaru's expression, and almost felt sorry for him, but then he continued the smile that Eri was sure had to be fake by now.

"We're supposed to be brothers, kids, right? Somebody has to take pity on us if we need a place to stay," he reassured Riku, ignoring the last comment.

"Not everyone is that nice," Meiko warned, appearing behind Subaru and Riku, who stepped forward into the room to let her pass.

Neru looked over at Meiko. "Hey, should I be instructing them on anything else?"

Meiko smiled slightly. "You can't always depend on me for instructions," she said. "Make some decisions yourself. It'll be a learning process."

"But this 'learning process' is supposed to be serious, for Miku!" Neru protested.

Meiko tilted her head. "You're not as bad at making decisions as you feel. If you were in Gumi and Oliver's position, would you want a text telling you where to go?"

"They already know where they're supposed to go," Neru said quickly. Then she looked down at her phone. "Oh. So, I should just wait for another update?"

"Part of being in charge is letting them come to you for help. You don't need to smother them in instructions; after all, they're the ones that are actually there."

IA and Ran walked into the room. "Did Neru get a text?" IA asked to no one in particular.

"Yes, here: 'We are in the car (I'm kind of scared, because Gumi's driving), on our way to the place we're supposed to go, which apparently Gumi is perfectly capable of finding,'" Neru read aloud from the phone. "I sure hope they're using the names I gave them," she said with a giggle.

"Do they know what they're supposed to do?" Eri asked, not knowing how much had actually been planned ahead of time.

"I gave them instructions on how to get to the home of our guide, since he doesn't really have a business or anything, he was just recommended by the creators who set the concerts up," Meiko replied.

"He doesn't have a real business or anything?" Eri asked. "So what, he just volunteered to take care of extremely popular Vocaloids because he can speak Japanese and English and happens to live in the right city? Isn't that suspicious?"

Meiko shook her head. "It's not quite like that. He's not officially a part of the organization that creates Vocaloids and helps form Utauloids, but he does help collecting voices and promoting the popularity of Vocaloids-Japanese Vocaloids, at least."

Eri frowned, and opened her mouth to speak again, but at that moment, there was a scream followed by laughter.

"**Rin! I swear! I will...**"

Rin ran into the room and looked around with a grin. "**Quick, hide me,**" she said with a giggle. She was too slow, and spun around as she heard Len approaching rapidly. Everyone in the room stared at Len, who was soaked from about the shoulders up.

Rin blinked and tried to recover herself, smiling and waving lightly. "**Oh, hi, Len,**" she said with a cheerful smile.

"Rin, what did you do?" Meiko asked.

Rin raised her eyebrows. "Ah, me? Mm, nothing..." she said slowly.

"Rin you dumped a bucket of water on my head!" Len said in irritation. "Where did you even get water?"

"I found that place that was in some of my songs. 'The ocean.'"

Len rolled his eyes. "And you decided to dump some of it on me. How thoughtful."

Meiko turned to Neru. "Do you think you could be in charge of making sure Rin and-well mostly Rin-stays out of trouble?"

Neru's eyes widened and then narrowed. "That seems like a lot of work, but I guess so."

Meiko smiled. "Thank you. I'm sure they'd be helpful as long as you are on their good side. After all, I know they're very loyal to Miku." She turned to look at everyone in the room. "Okay, I think we should leave Neru alone now, she's said all there is to know."

Slowly, the room emptied, except for Eri, who hesitantly stayed behind to talk to Meiko. Her attention had been caught by a certain phrase. As Meiko began to leave the room, Eri stopped her.

"Um, Meiko," Eri said in a small voice. "You said 'the organization that forms Vocaloids and helps form Utaloids.' What do you mean by 'helps form' them?"

Meiko thought for a moment, as if trying to remember the context, and then nodded. "Oh, yes, Utauloids and Vocaloids differ slightly..."

Meiko kept talking, but suddenly Eri remembered a past conversation with IA.

_"Utauloids and Vocaloids differ slightly. I remember that when I first got here, I went through quite a few classes, and one of them was the explanation of the difference between Utauloids and Vocaloids, though it was added recently, so it wasn't too descriptive. But basically, I know that Utauloids each have their own individual creator, and are less likely to be needed by someone else, though it's possible to become popular."_

"...so since each one has a specific creator, and it makes them perhaps even more purposeful than Vocaloids," Meiko was saying. "Each Utauloid is created to sing specially for their creator, who personally provides the voice of the Utauloid."

Eri's eyes widened as she tried to process it. She remembered that the way IA had said it, it sounded like Eri was a pointless creation. But now, the way Meiko explained it, she felt for the first time like she was needed.

"So my voice belongs to the person who gives me songs occasionally?" Eri asked hopefully.

Meiko nodded. "The only reason that Utauloids don't always sound as good as Vocaloids is the fact that they're not professionally refined, to save costs. But that's not to say that you're less important."

"Okay, thank you for telling me that," Eri said, nodding. She mentally scolded herself for missing how the Vocaloid creators helped form Utauloids, but she guessed it had to do with the actual forming of the physical Utauloid. Making her way back to her room, Eri smiled a little bit, feeling happier than she had felt in a while.

* * *

><p>"My stomach feels weird," Gumi said. "It's really uncomfortable."<p>

Oliver ignored her. "This is the address?" he asked, looking at the rather ordinary house.

Gumi looked over at the phone Oliver was holding. "You're the one with the address, you tell me."

"So who's going to knock?" Oliver asked. "Do you think there are any rules for humans about knocking on doors?"

Gumi shrugged and stepped forward towards the home's entryway. "Eh, I doubt it. Come on," she said, raising her arm to knock.

"Wait, what's that little button?" Oliver asked, pointing to a small button next to the door. Gumi bent down to peer at it closely.

"I don't know. I think I'll push it," she said with a grin. Before Oliver could tell her otherwise, she poked the button tentatively. The two waited for a few moments before Gumi frowned. "Darn, it didn't do anything," she complained.

The door to the house opened, and Gumi and Oliver both jumped before quickly turning to face the lady in the doorway.

"Hello, how can I help you?" the lady asked kindly.

"I'm Oliver, and this is G...Gwen," Oliver recovered himself, stepping forward. "We have some business with your husband, I believe. He is associated with Vocaloid, am I correct?"

The lady's mouth opened slightly, but she quickly blinked and then nodded. "Yes, he's...away right now, but you're welcome to stay until he returns," she said, stepping aside hastily and motioning for the two to go inside. "Please, come in, come in."

Oliver went inside, followed by Gumi, and looked around for a moment, trying to figure out where to go. He spotted two children peeking at him from around a corner that led away from the main room he was in.

"You can sit down on that couch, if you'd like," the lady said, closing the door and walking past Gumi and Oliver to sit down on a chair. The two guests followed her instructions and sat down on the couch the lady had indicated.

"So, is it possible that you could enlighten me on any specifics about the business you're here for?" the lady asked curiously, before shaking her head abruptly. "I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Jennifer Ross, wife of Steven Ross."

"We're actually here to ask your husband a few questions," Oliver answered truthfully. "We're aware that he acted as a guide for the Vocaloid Hatsune Miku at her most recent concert, and..." Oliver trailed off at the part that Meiko had told him about right before he left, the part where the guide had apparently abandoned the singers.

"...And we were wondering if he has any extra information on her," Gumi finished. "We're researchers."

Jennifer's expression immediately brightened. "Oh, okay. You see, my husband is a semi-linguist. Lately, Vocaloid has been trying to expand to different languages, and they recruited my husband to go promote Vocaloid in other countries, and right now, he's trying to get some details on a trip where he may actually get to collect a voice sample. Unfortunately, the major part of Vocaloid is in Japan, and because of family, we can't just move to Japan, so Steven is not officially part of Vocaloid. He just picks up the extra jobs that he can..." she explained, trailing off at the end.

Gumi nodded, finally getting her courage back. "That's interesting. So how long do you think it will be until he gets back?" she asked.

"He should be here by morning," Jennifer replied. "Do you have a place to stay?"

Gumi and Oliver shook their heads. "We...weren't expecting to stay long," Oliver said.

"You can stay here, if you'd like," Jennifer said.

Gumi's eyes widened. "Are you sure it's okay to stay here overnight?" she asked nervously.

Jennifer smiled. "Of course," she said. "There are two extra bedrooms here, but I assume you only need one?" she asked, seeing Gumi's ring.

Oliver glanced at Gumi and sighed inwardly. "Um, yeah..."

Jennifer looked over to the children that were still spying on the scene. "It's past your bedtimes, go to bed now," she said sternly, looking apologetically at Gumi and Oliver. "Sorry, I hope they don't make you uncomfortable. Children are curious, though."

Gumi's expression brightened. "What are their names?" she asked eagerly.

"Hannah and Charlie. Hannah is eight, and Charlie is six."

"Years?" Gumi asked.

Jennifer gave her a funny look before nodding slowly. "Yes, eight years old and six years old..." she said.

Gumi realized her mistake and resisted the urge to hide her face.

"Well, I can show you to your room now," Jennifer said, standing up and waiting for the couple to follow. She walked up a set of stairs and led Gumi and Oliver down a hallway until they reached a door. She showed the two inside and was about to leave when she stopped. "The bathroom's right next door. Are you hungry at all?" she asked them. "I don't know if you've been travelling, but you're free to have some food if you'd like."

Gumi glanced at Oliver, who looked just as confused as she was. Hesitantly, she decided to go with her instinct. "Do you have carrots?" she asked, remembering her character item.

"Yes, wait just a moment."

As Jennifer left, Gumi studied the room. "It was really easy to gain her trust," she mumbled.

"Maybe her husband gets visitors often," Oliver said. "What in the world are carrots?"

"Food that humans-like _us_-eat. Surely you know what eating is," Gumi said.

Oliver rolled his eyes. "So we're humans, and we have to eat now?"

"Guess so," Gumi replied.

A moment later, Jennifer replied with a bowl full of baby carrots. "Here you go," she said. "Let me know if you need anything else," she added as she left.

Gumi stared at them. "Well, here goes nothing." She picked up a carrot and stuffed it in her mouth, chewing it awkwardly. "This is awesome," she finally decided, before stuffing another in her mouth.

Oliver hesitantly picked up a carrot and bit off the tip. "It doesn't seem very awesome to me," he said, making a face at the taste. "But I guess I'll eat it."

"So," Gumi started hesitantly. "Should I...sleep on the floor?"

Oliver sighed. "No, you can have the bed. I'm sure there's another room around here. Jennifer said there were two extras, right? We'll just meet back up in the morning."

Gumi's expression saddened slightly. "I think I'd get lonely," she said slowly.

"Come on, I'm not letting you sleep on the floor. You slept practically by yourself while Rin and Len were shut down, didn't you?"

Gumi twisted a strand of hair around her finger nervously. "It wasn't very fun," she said quietly.

Oliver sighed again. "I'm not arguing anymore, stay in here please. I'm going to find the other room. Go to sleep while you can."

Gumi pouted as Oliver left the room. "Goodnight," she whispered. Oliver stopped for a moment in the doorway, but didn't turn around and kept walking.

Gumi set down the bowl of carrots and lay down in bed, staring up at the unfamiliar ceiling. She sat up five minutes later, remembering that they hadn't texted Neru about anything yet, but she slumped back down, deciding against interrupting Oliver's sleep.

Gumi tried to close her eyes, but ended up opening them almost immediately.

"I knew I wouldn't be able to handle this trip," she said to herself, pulling the sheets over her head and staring into the fabric until sleep got the best of her.

_Empty eyes stared from beneath the surface of unclear waters. The long teal hair that normally hung gracefully was now drifting ever so slightly in the shifting current. A red glow came from the computer-like features of the girl's outfit. Suddenly, the glow started to dim. Air began to run out. Bubbles of escaped oxygen jumped upwards suddenly, bubbles that didn't belong to the teal-haired girl. The red glow faded to black, and the girl disappeared. A muffled cry of shock released another flurry of bubbles, and..._

Gumi threw the covers off of her face and tried to catch her breath as she wiped away the drops of sweat that had formed on her forehead. She squeezed her eyes shut but she could only see the fading red glow.

Sitting up in bed, Gumi glanced around the room frantically before sliding out of bed and running out of the room.

"Oliver," she whispered as she looked around for another door. "Oliver!"

Gumi found a door around a corner and knocked hesitantly, despite her state. "Oliver?" she whispered again, feeling out of breath. She slid down a wall as her chest tightened and her breaths began to sound like wheezes. Gumi closed her eyes as dizziness engulfed her, but not before she saw the dark outline of a figure in front of her.

"Gumi?" Oliver whispered, crouching down in front of her with a worried expression on his face. She had slumped over rather abruptly, her breathing slowing down unnaturally. He reached forward rather tentatively and brushed her hair aside so that he could see her face, noticing that her face was very warm as he did so, and saw that her eyes were closed. Looking around and seeing that no one else had heard, Oliver stood once again and tried to figure out what to do.

With a quiet sigh, he tried to best position himself and Gumi to lift her up. With quite some effort, he managed to hold her up bridal style. He walked back to his room as quickly as possible with her and set her down on the bed. He ran to find the bathroom, which he had looked at earlier, and found the sink. He soaked a towel in cold water and ran back to Gumi, placing it on her forehead.

Not sure of what to do, Oliver pulled a small chair over from the corner of the room and sat by the bed. After a while, Gumi stirred and Oliver looked over at her as she opened her eyes.

Gumi stared up at the ceiling for a moment, as if trying to remember where she was, and then noticed Oliver.

"Ha, I thought you said we should sleep in separate rooms. Why are you in my room?" she asked lightly with a playful smirk.

"Don't pretend like that, you're in my room," Oliver said sternly.

Gumi's smile faded. "I had a nightmare," she said quietly.

"And then you thought it would be a good idea to run around looking for me?" Oliver asked. "What if you had stopped breathing? You need to try to calm down next time!" Oliver scolded.

Tears came to Gumi's eyes. "I can't help it!" she said weakly. Oliver sighed.

"I'll let you stay in here tonight, but if we end up staying around, you have to be by yourself."

Gumi nodded. "And...we forgot to text Neru..." she said.

"Oh yeah," Oliver said, and got up to retrieve the phone. "Okay, so did we figure out anything that wasn't already known?" he asked, trying to collect his thoughts.

"Not really," Gumi said. "Do you think you could ask her if Meiko knows what to do about my breathing? I'm kind of worried about it."

Oliver nodded and started texting. Gumi closed her eyes, and Oliver stared at her for a moment.

"You're way too good at pretending," Oliver mumbled as he shook his head, to which Gumi didn't respond.

A few minutes later, Oliver received an answer and checked the phone's screen. As he read the message, his eyes widened in surprise and worry, and he rubbed his forehead in an effort to calm himself down.

"_...Meiko is...we think she's been shut down. We don't know why. But I can text Kaito and ask him, since he has a computer._"

* * *

><p><strong>Gumi's kinda bipolar. But not really. She just has stress problems, and then hides it because no one knows. Just a random note, I really do have a friend that gets anxiety-induced asthma. It's sometimes really scary...<strong>

**Anyways, I should have the next chapter up MUCH sooner than three weeks, so you'll know what happened to Meiko ^_^ Well, thank you for reading, (and reviewing, if you do), and look both ways before crossing the street.**


	10. Suspicious Activity

**Okay, so I basically try to update on Friday night/Saturday, but I was kinda depressed so I couldn't finish in time (plus the chapter is shorter bleh). But I managed, so, here you go.**

* * *

><p>"Hey, Oliver."<p>

Oliver opened his eyes and blinked a few times to wake himself up. His fingers were still grasping the phone.

"We should go see if we can talk to the guide now," Gumi said, staring down at Oliver from atop the bed. Oliver had fallen asleep on the floor, trying to ignore the problems of the night.

"Oh, okay," Oliver said, and sat up. Gumi slid off the bed and Oliver followed her out the door and down the stairs.

"What time is it, do you think?" Gumi asked as they looked around for someone.

"Why are you asking me?" Oliver asked, slightly frustrated. "You're the one who just woke me up."

"Ah, you're up now."

Oliver and Gumi turned to see Jennifer walking out of what was in fact a kitchen.

"Would you like breakfast?" she asked kindly. "If you're hungry."

Gumi and Oliver considered the question. "Um, I guess so," Gumi said brightly, shrugging. "Thank you," she remembered to add.

"It's nothing," Jennifer assured with a wave of her hand.

"You can join Hannah and Charlie at the table," Jennifer said, pointing at the table that was slightly obscured by a wall. Gumi brightened up even more, while Oliver hesitantly followed her over to the table where the children were sitting.

Gumi and Oliver sat down, and Gumi grinned at the children, who seemed to be just as shy as Oliver. "I've always wondered what it'd be like to have children," she remarked.

Jennifer stopped what she was doing to look at Oliver and Gumi quickly, but didn't ask any questions. She set down plates in front of the table's four occupants, and Gumi and Oliver stared at the food they had never eaten before. Thankfully, the children were quick to begin eating, and Gumi and Oliver were spared an explanation of what to do with a fork.

After breakfast was over, Jennifer told Gumi and Oliver to take a seat in the living room, and that Steven would be there in a moment. A nervous silence ensued, until finally, Miku's guide finally entered the room and sat down in a chair across from the 'couple.'

"Gwen and...Oliver, I presume?" the man asked, and the two both nodded, though Oliver felt especially nervous with the way the man paused before his name. "And of course Jennifer already told you, my name is Steven. I understand you have some questions for me, so feel free to ask away."

"Well," Oliver started, trying his best not to stutter when this man seemed so polite and professional. "You worked as a guide for the Vocaloids when they held their first concert here, right?" Steven nodded. Oliver tried to think quickly, deciding whether or not to address the fact that he also deserted them before the concert, and also wondering if it was safe to talk about Miku's absense.

Gumi took over. "So how did you, say, apply for the job?"

Steven smiled. "Well, I happen to be very good friends with one of the top coordinators of the Vocaloid company, and since I can speak Japanese and English, along with many other languages of course, I managed to secure a position as the five Vocaloids' guide.

"What made you interested in having the job?" Oliver asked, getting the hang of it.

"Ah, I just thought it would be a great experience to be able to help out such successful creations. I mean, what I'm hoping for is a future in Vocaloids where there are many different Vocaloids from many different countries, all holding concerts in many places. I've always appreciated languages and music both in themselves, and to see them work together is always wonderful."

Oliver sighed inwardly. This guy didn't really seem suspicious at all, but there were still nagging doubts. Oliver realized he couldn't mention anything about the suspicions surrounding Miku, though, because, if Steven was responsible, he probably assumed no one knew about that, thus knowing in itself would be suspicious.

Just then, Jennifer started to walk by followed by Hannah and Charlie. "Bye, Steven," she said fondly. Then she looked down at the children. "Say bye to Daddy," she told them. After their goodbyes, Steven also bid them goodbye and then turned back to the two guests, who were momentarily distracted.

"I don't mean to be too personal, but where are they going?" Gumi asked, unable to contain her curiosity.

"They're spending the weekend at Jennifer's parents' house. I have to stay and work," Steven explained.

"So, what do you do when you're not guiding Vocaloids around here? You wife mentioned something about a trip you were hoping for, I believe," Oliver continued.

"Ah, yes," Steven said, nodding. "In a couple of-"

He was interrupted by his phone, which went off from his pocket. He looked at Gumi and Oliver apologetically. "Please excuse me for a moment," he said, and left the room.

"Do you think he's on to us?" Oliver whispered to Gumi.

"I don't think so," Gumi responded lightheartedly, but still in a whisper.

"Just, the way he paused before my name...and the way he talks about Vocaloids seems a little bit _too_ enthusiastic."

* * *

><p>"Rin, didn't you say that the creators had placed their trust in us?" A panicked Neru was asking.<p>

Rin seemed just as shaken as Neru, if not more. "I don't know! Well, I do remember saying that, and I remember Meiko saying that probably meant they wouldn't shut any of us down, but what if they changed their minds?"

"But why Meiko?" Neru asked in exasperation. "She's the only one who has had communication with the creators since the beginning!"

"Calm down," Miriam said, patting Neru on the shoulder. "It's not like it's anyone's fault."

All of the Vocaloids and Utauloids that were part of the search were gathered in the meeting room, except for Meiko, who was lying on Miriam's bed, sharing the same symptoms that Rin and Len had shown before.

"Do Oliver and Gumi know?" IA asked Neru.

"Well, I tried to be calm about it, but I didn't get a response, so I don't know how they're reacting to it. They haven't updated me on anything else, really."

There was silence. Finally, Mai spoke. "I personally think you'll get an update soon," she said seriously. Everyone turned to look at her.

"Why is that?" Miriam asked.

"Whatever happened to Meiko has to be connected to what's going on with Gumi and Oliver. So basically...Neru, just be ready for anything," Mai replied. She took her leave and Eri hesitantly followed.

"**Hey, have you talked to Kiyoteru lately?**" Mai asked casually, completely changing the subject.

"**No,**" Eri replied bitterly.

"**I've just noticed it always seems forced,**" Mai said.

"**Gosh, I wonder why.**"

"**Oh come on, you desperately want to talk to him,**" Mai said, grinning as she gave Eri a sideways glance.

"**Nope, I can honestly say that is untrue,**" Eri said, not bothering to look at Mai as she spoke.

"**The only problem is, you don't have anything to say,**" Mai speculated, ignoring Eri.

"**Yeah, that's the only problem,**" Eri said while rolling her eyes.

Having reached their room, Mai reached out to open the door and the two went inside.

"**So perhaps I should just leave you two alone and let you bond while you're searching for Miku together.**"

"**Now there's an idea,**" Eri said lying down on her bed with her arms behind her head, just hoping that Mai would be quiet so she could relax.

"**But the setting just doesn't seem romantic enough. Unless, of course, you were in trouble or-**"

Eri sat up and interrupted Mai. "**Why don't you go somewhere else?**"

Mai tilted her head. "**This happens to be my room,**" she replied calmly, used to Eri's irritated remarks.

"**If you want me to talk to Kiyoteru so much, you go talk to Riku first,**" Eri said, sighing.

"**I talk to him all the time already, why would you...**" Mai paused for a moment, seeming confused. "**Why did that sound like one of those analogy things? Is there supposed to be a similarity between the two situations?**" Mai asked, raising her eyebrows, waiting to see what Eri's answer would be.

"**Yes, yes I believe there is,**" Eri replied coolly.

Mai faltered for a moment, but shook her head quickly. "**Well, there's not,**" she said firmly.

"**Are you sure?**" Eri asked, determined to turn the conversation around on Mai.

"**What do you think?**" Mai asked, narrowing her eyes.

Eri opened her mouth to respond, but then she stopped with a small sigh. "**I think you're very sure. But I'm not going to talk to Kiyoteru when there's nothing to say. So just let it drop.**"

* * *

><p>Steven returned to the living room, putting his phone away in his pocket. Gumi and Oliver smiled politely at his return, but Gumi's smile faltered when she realized he was staring at her more intently than before he had left.<p>

He finally turned back to Oliver. "I'm sorry, remind me of what your question was."

"I was asking about a trip your wife mentioned you were hoping for, if that's not too personal," Oliver repeated.

Steven hesitated before he answered. "In a couple of days, I'll be leaving for a trip. If it's all the same to you, I'll keep the location personal."

Oliver nodded. "That's fine. I think that just about covers everything then." Oliver looked over at Gumi. "Anything else?" he asked her. She shook her head.

"Are you staying in town?" Steven asked.

"We don't really have a place to stay," Gumi explained quickly.

"Well, you stayed here one night, you can stay here for the weekend if you have more business," Steven offered.

"I'll take you up on that offer, thank you," Gumi replied almost immediately. Oliver glanced at her again, unsure of what she was hoping for by staying. "If you'll excuse us, we need to attend to other business, so we'll be out of your way for the day." She got up resolutely, and Oliver decided she probably wanted him to come along, so he got up as well.

He followed Gumi out to the car, and they got in and Gumi started driving, having become quite good at driving in such a short time with no instruction. Of course, she had paid attention to how the bus driver drove, and she was still quite logical, but she found it harder to remember things as a human.

"Mind telling me about whatever you're planning?" Oliver asked after a moment of silence.

"I don't feel safe around this guy," Gumi said.

"Do you feel safe around anyone? I mean, except me, I hope."

Gumi pursed her lips. "The way he got that phone call...and then stared at me...it made me uncomfortable. He didn't use my name, either."

"So? He didn't use mine," Oliver pointed out.

"And then he offered to let us stay for the weekend?" Gumi continued. "While his family is gone? That just doesn't make me feel very secure."

"Then why did you accept the offer so quickly?" Oliver cried, confused.

"I figure, the best way to figure out what's going to happen is to let it happen."

"Oh, really, brilliant method, Gumi," Oliver said with a sigh. "I'm going to text Neru. We might as well let her know that nothing really happened."

"I wonder if Meiko was already planning to send someone out, assuming that we'd have information by now," Gumi said.

Oliver paled. "Oh, about that..." he started nervously. "Meiko has apparently been shut down," he said quietly.

Gumi's eyes widened. "Since when?"

"Last night."

"Last night?" Gumi repeated. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"Well, with the condition you were in, I didn't feel like it would be wise," Oliver replied bitterly. "Where are we even going?" he asked, referring to Gumi's driving.

"I'm pretty sure we're going in circles," she answered.

Oliver sighed. "Okay, first of all, you're 'pretty sure?' And second of all, circles? Just...why?"

"I just wanted to get away from that guy, and I wanted to talk," Gumi said.

"Well we did both, so can we go back now?" Oliver asked impatiently.

"I also want to eat more food."

"Okay, whatever, I'll just text Neru now," Oliver said. He pulled out the phone and started to text.

"Um, do you remember everything in that little lecture Meiko gave us before we left about money and stuff?" Gumi asked hesitantly as she looked around. "Oh, Oliver, I can't read all of this stuff fast enough! You have to help me find a place that has food," she complained, trying to read signs as she drove past them, not quite used to reading English.

"Is food really the most important thing right now?" Oliver asked without looking up. "Find somewhere to stop, and we'll figure something out."

Gumi found a parking lot and stopped the car just as Oliver finished texting.

"What did you tell her?" Gumi asked when Oliver put the phone away.

"I just told her that the guy hasn't really told us anything, but we do know he has a trip planned in a couple of days, and that he looked at us funny," Oliver said. "Now drive back by the signs you wanted me to read."

* * *

><p>"Did you get a text? Hm?" Rin asked Neru, slightly giddy from the recent discovery of her chair's ability to spin around in a circle. Len sat by her and watched, mildly interested.<p>

Neru stared at her phone as if seeing it for the first time. "Actually...yes..." she said slowly.

"Ooh what does it say?" Rin asked, jumping out of her chair and peering at the phone's screen. It wasn't long until she lost her balance from dizziness and ended up back in a chair.

"Um, well, apparently they don't have much information yet..." Neru said, disappointed. Even though they said nothing was going on, Neru was starting to feel unnerved and worried about what to do if Mai was right, and something bad was about to happen.

"I have to say I'm personally troubled by this, too," Meiko said, standing in the doorway with a slightly alarmed expression on her face.

Neru's mouth fell open in shock. "Meiko! When did you...?"

"Just now, but how long have I been inactive?" Meiko asked with concern.

"Not even a day," Neru replied.

Meiko nodded grimly. "I don't think this was done by the same people that shut down Rin and Len."

"Do you have an idea of what it means?" Neru asked.

"An idea, yes. A solution, no."

* * *

><p>After wandering around the city and figuring things out to the best of their ability, Oliver and Gumi arrived back at the house right after they found something for dinner.<p>

"How much money do we have left on this thing?" Gumi asked, playing with the credit card that had been given to her by Meiko.

"A lot," Oliver said simply before knocking on the door. Steven opened the door and nodded, stepping aside to allow the couple inside.

"Did you get dinner? I can still make you something if you need it," he said.

Oliver shook his head quickly. "Oh, no, we're fine. We'll just go to our room and stay out of your way."

He led Gumi back to his room, and sat on the bed while Gumi sat in the single chair that occupied the room. They contemplated their situation in silence for a moment before Gumi spoke up.

"He's definitely being way too nice," Gumi said.

"Hey, you don't know that. Maybe he and his wife are just really kind," Oliver said, feeling slightly obligated to defend the man.

"I don't doubt that about his wife. If there is something up with this guy, I doubt his wife knows about it. Him, on the other hand...he just seems like the type that wants to move up in business, without regarding people like the ones we're pretending to be," Gumi speculated.

"Do you think we should...sleep in the same room? Just, for safety?" Oliver asked. His expression had darkened.

Gumi managed a small smile. "Of course I do...but is it okay with you? You seemed pretty uncomfortable with the idea last night."

"Well, if your theory is: 'the best way to figure out what's going to happen is to let it happen,' then I just want to take every precaution to make sure that I'm doing everything I can to keep y...my partner...safe," Oliver said.

Gumi tilted her head. "Why'd you change the last part?" she asked, looking amused.

"I don't know," Oliver mumbled.

"Well, it's okay to want to keep me personally safe, you know?" Gumi said. "It's not like we're strangers anymore. We're friends, right?"

Oliver's expression regained the shy characteristics he had when he first met Gumi. "I guess..." he said quietly.

Gumi pouted slightly. "That's it?" she asked, just as quietly. She sighed. "Well, that's okay. I'll be friends with you, at least."

Oliver was about to reply when his phone went off from his pocket. He pulled it out and glanced at the message quickly before looking back at Gumi. "Apparently Meiko's back to normal, and news has gotten around to everyone. They want to be relieved but Meiko is very suspicious," he said.

"Sheesh, you got all of that from just glancing at it so quickly? I wish I could read this English stuff that fast," Gumi complained. "But that is weird, that Meiko would be shut down but then active within 24 hours."

"I'm sure they're trying to figure it out too," Oliver said as he put away the phone. "That's something I don't like about this search. We can't really actively do anything when we're so far behind the ideas of whoever the attacker is."

"Shall we go to sleep, then?" Gumi asked nonchalantly.

Oliver sighed and smiled. "I suppose we _shall_." He moved over to make room for Gumi in the bed, swallowing the uncomfortable feeling that was threatening to make him run to the next room over to avoid the situation.

Gumi's eyes widened. "Oh, I was going to sleep on the floor..." she said.

"No, I told you I'm not letting you sleep on the floor," Oliver said firmly, despite the fact that if it wasn't contradicting himself completely, he would sleep on the floor himself for Gumi's sake.

Gumi quietly got up and awkwardly got into bed, as close to the edge of her side as possible. She was thankful it was a bed meant for two. "Goodnight," she said quietly.

Oliver responded this time. "Goodnight."

* * *

><p>Neru tapped Len, who was sleeping while sitting in a chair, his head resting on the large meeting table.<p>

"Len!" she whispered. He shifted and woke up, blinking slowly at Neru.

"What?" he asked sleepily.

"You sent that message about Meiko for me, right? What time did you send it?"

Len sighed quietly. "Just check the phone's 'sent messages' folder. It should have the time recorded," he said, though he wouldn't admit that he knew that because he had tried to figure out how everything on the phone worked in his excitement at getting to use the phone. "Why are you even still awake, anyway?" he added.

"I can't miss any messages from Oliver!" Neru stated, still in a whisper. "But I guess he isn't going to respond to the last one...you sent it like five hours ago."

Len rested his head on the table again. "Just go to sleep," was his muffled reply.

As if trying to defy his instruction, the phone suddenly rang. Neru looked at it in surprise. Rin woke up from the other side of the table. Neru quickly answered it, though it took her a second to figure out the buttons, since she hadn't been called yet.

"_Neru, tell Ran to switch Gumi's and my appearance. Now_," Oliver was saying urgently.

"But-"

"_Just do it. Please_."

Neru nodded, even though Oliver couldn't see her. "Okay," she said, and the call disconnected. Rin and Len stared as Neru dashed out the door.

* * *

><p><strong>So I recently read the latest chapter of Project: VOCALOID and it's like 25K words long. ONE CHAPTER. I'm pretty sure that's like...impossible...but okay. I'll just live with my incompetence. <strong>

** A thought struck me the other day that I could in theory just not upload so many chapters for just one "arc" (example: Gumi and Oliver's part in the story)(is that even the correct term?...), and not update as often. However, I like to try to update at least once a week. Plus long chapters intimidate me. I hope these short-ish chapters are okay with you guys. If you want longer chapters, I will strive for longer chapters! Just tell me so.**


	11. Kidnapped

**Yay, early chapter. I used a bit of bolding and italicizing in the chapter, but there's no Japanese speaking in it. The bold is there to distinguish the "unknown" voice from Oliver's. (You'll know what I'm talking about when you get there.) Italics are for texts and dreams.**

* * *

><p>Oliver raced out of the home, grasping the car keys and phone tightly, with his source of money in his pocket. His only focus was to get away from that house. As he got in the car, the events of just a few moments ago began to replay in his head.<p>

_"Oliver!" A high pitched voice was unnaturally cut off. Oliver jolted awake, only to find his room occupied by a group of strangers. He looked over to the bed's only other occupant and gasped._

_"Gumi!" Oliver realized she was being carried away quickly. He sat up and jumped out of bed, trying to chase after her. His progress was halted when he was harshly knocked aside by one of the strangers._

_The silence was unnerving as Oliver tried to recover from the pain that was pounding in his head, the remainder of the strangers disappearing as quickly as they had appeared to Oliver. Gumi had only called out once, and he had foolishly responded with her real name. As he tried to stand, ignoring the dizziness, his thoughts gathered surprisingly quickly._

_His suspicions about the man had been right. Of course they had sent someone to take Gumi, it had been stupid to send more Vocaloids out to search. Oliver gathered his valuables carefully and slowly made his way down the stairs, despite the situation. If Miku had been kidnapped, why wouldn't Gumi be? The man had obviously recognized the two Vocaloids, but why had the strangers not bothered with Oliver?_

_They only wanted Japanese Vocaloids?_

Adrenaline made Oliver shake with fright and anticipation. He pulled out his phone and called Neru, hoping she would answer the call. When she did, he tried to be as calm as possible as he instructed her in what to do to fulfill his plan, not wanting to alarm her.

After the call ended, he immediately started texting, because he wasn't sure if he had made his intentions clear.

"_When I say switch our appearances, I mean I want to look like Gumi and I want her to look like me."_

He sent the text and started the car, aware that it was probably around midnight.

"Poor Gumi," Oliver said aloud. His shoulders sagged at the thought of her being afraid, or even hyperventillating again. She had been right next to him, and he hadn't been able to do anything.

His thoughts overwhelming him, Oliver decided he couldn't focus on driving and looked for the nearest place to stop. It was a good thing he did, because as soon as he parked, the little tone that signified a text went off on his phone.

"_Get ready. -Ran."_

Oliver took a deep breath. The change wasn't pleasant last time, and he wasn't looking forward to it again. It wasn't that it hurt, it just felt unnatural, which it was. He definitely wasn't looking forward to being a girl. Once again, his thoughts shifted to Gumi, who didn't even know what he had planned. He himself didn't know if the plan would even work.

Oliver groaned and squeezed his eyes shut as he felt his form changing. It really did feel weird. He was glad that his clothes changed with him, because he wasn't planning on changing clothes as Gumi. That would be double weird.

After it was over, Oliver immediately tried to focus on what he should do next. If his plan went as he hoped, Gumi's captors would be fooled into thinking that they had somehow messed up and let Gumi go free. It was a slim chance, but it was better than nothing.

However, if the plan didn't work, which seemed fairly likely, Oliver then needed to try to save Gumi and find out more information on Miku. Oliver shook his head slowly as he realized that Gumi had no way of contacting anyone. Suddenly a strand of hair fell in his face. He narrowed his eyes and brushed it out of the way.

"This is going to be great," he mumbled. He was slightly caught off guard when his voice came out as Gumi's.

Sighing he looked back down at the phone. He was actually surprised he hadn't received another text asking what was going on, but he was sure that he probably had the whole building's attention by now. Slowly, he started to type out the events of the night.

* * *

><p>Murmurs of quiet conversation filled the room, as all of the Vocaloid and Utauloid that were part of the search were gathered in the meeting room, some more awake than others. Somehow, news had managed to spread to everyone fairly quickly as soon as Ran had been summoned. As Ran focused on the changes, everyone else gathered around Neru to see if more texts would come.<p>

"Hey Ran," Mai said after she saw Ran had opened her eyes again. "Does this make you tired or anything? Or is it just that the magic doesn't last very long?"

"The magic isn't part of me, so no it doesn't make me tired. It's just an item, though I doubt anyone here could use as well as me, just because I've had it for so long that I've learned to use it well. The amount of magic I have though, is sort of like...vocabulary, in a sense," Ran explained, trying to find the right words. "It starts out very limited, but as I use it more and more and learn new things, it grows. So the two months is just a guess that Kaito made, since he recorded when I first picked it out. But, logically, if I continue using the magic at this rate, I may actually be able to elongate the time span we have. Just a though," she finished.

Neru made a weird sound that was a cross between a gasp and an exclamation. "He texted again...and it's really long!"

"Read it out loud," Rin requested from her spinning chair.

Neru nodded and began to read for her now silent audience. "I'm sure you're wondering what happened to me. Here goes: I was sleeping, and woke up when Gumi shouted my name. There were strangers in my room, probably five or more, and they were taking Gumi away. I tried to help her but was hit by one of the strangers. I have asked you to switch my appearance with Gumi in a hope that she might be set free if her captors think she's me. Now, I'm sure if you share this with everyone, you'll come to the same conclusions I did about the situation, so I'll leave that to you. Right now, I've left the house with the phone, money, and car. I'm going to try to find Gumi."

A sigh came from Meiko. "At this point, I'm not sure if we can give him any better advice. He has as much control of the situation as we do, so for now, let's follow his assumption and figure out the motives in this situation. Neru, please tell us all what Oliver has told to you so far about his situation since he arrived."

"Well, from what I can tell, he met the guy, whose family is gone right now, and he seemed slightly suspicious, including the action of staring at Oliver and Gumi at different times, but he didn't give them enough information for any help, except for the fact that the he's is going on a trip in a couple of days. Then of course we have Gumi's kidnapping, and Oliver's plan. Anybody have any ideas?" Neru said.

"Don't forget Meiko being shut down in all of this. I'm certain that had something to do with it now," IA said. Ran looked at her and nodded.

"Okay, the most obvious fact here is that Oliver noticed that the kidnappers didn't want him," Ran said. "Otherwise he wouldn't want his identity switched. The next obvious fact that he probably wanted us to get is that the man wasn't trustworthy, and is most likely behind Miku's disappearance."

"So then, what did Meiko have to do with this?" Eri asked.

"I have no idea," Ran said, shaking her head sadly.

"Wait," Mai spoke up. "This might sound crazy, but what if...what if Meiko was...hacked?"

"Hacked?" some questioned.

"I mean, I don't know very much about it, but isn't that where somebody basically steals information from a program they shouldn't have access to or something?" Mai asked, looking to Meiko for confirmation.

Meiko tilted her head and nodded. "I see what you're getting at. You think the kidnappers somehow got information from me?"

Mai nodded quickly, glad that she had made sense. "Yes, because how else would they know who Gumi was? She was in disguise, but you knew exactly what she looked like. You already told us that the creators can mess with information while Vocaloids are shut down, so of course if Meiko was shut down, they could access her information."

"Only the creators can do that, though, right?" Luka asked, frowning. "I mean, don't they have special files that can view the information we contain?"

"It would be a very advanced job, with rewards of very advanced information," IA said.

"For very advanced minds," Ran added. "Whoever did it was either incredibly smart, or was dishonest towards the Vocaloid company, and is actually one of the creators themselves."

"Oh, now that's an interesting thought," Haku spoke up. "Neru, did Oliver find anything out about the man's job or how close he was to Vocaloid creators?"

Neru looked down at her phone subconsciously. "I think he mentioned something about the man having a close friend in the Vocaloid company," she said.

"Wait, if they hacked Meiko for information, that means any one of us is vulnerable to the same problem," Rin voiced the thought that had been sitting at the back of everyone's mind.

"And if they wanted to know why they have 'Oliver' instead of 'Gumi,' they'll just try to get information from us, won't they?" Len reasoned.

"Only Vocaloids are accessible," Meiko corrected. "Utauloids technically belong to a third party."

"So you want me to change all the Vocaloids into humans?" Ran asked. "It would shorten your time, but if you don't want more calamities to befall us, it wouldn't be a bad idea."

"It could be a wise decision. Vocaloids could go before the Utauloids on the search, so I think it would work out just fine."

"So should I change everyone now?" Ran asked.

"Let's let everyone decide. Can I get a show of hands from the Vocaloids who would like to change now?" Meiko asked, scanning the room. It was a unanimous decision. "Well then, go ahead, Ran," Meiko said, nodding.

* * *

><p>Finding an empty parking lot, Oliver parked once again and tried to find a position to sleep in comfortably without being too visible to possible onlookers. He finally managed to find a way to lie down across the backseats comfortably.<p>

Letting his eyes close, Oliver tried to relax and not think, but the only thing he could do was think about what to do. He had told Neru he was going to look for Gumi, but he had no idea where to look for her. He had about as much of an idea where Gumi was as where Miku was, which wasn't much. His only consolation was that he suspected that if he found Gumi, he'd also find Miku.

Oliver wondered what the other Vocaloids and Utauloids were doing about the situation, and finally drifted off to sleep with the hope that something good would happen.

_"Are you sure you're fine?"_

_"Yes, I'm fine."_

_"If you need anything, I'll be here to help."_

_"Okay, Miriam."_

_Blue water. Pretty, clean sand. A gentle wind. The perfect place to be alone._

_"It's not that I didn't like them."_

_"**Of course**."_

_That voice. It wasn't from the past. That voice was..._

_"I just didn't feel as great as them."_

_...strange._

_"**And now?**"_

_That voice was..._

_"I feel like I've messed everything up."_

_...familiar._

_"**And basically, you don't feel as great as them.**"_

_"History repeats itself, doesn't it?"_

_"**So where will you go?**"_

_...Miku._

Oliver awoke with a start. As he tried to think, the remains of his dream floated in the back of his mind. He strained to remember, but the harder he tried, the more it eluded him.

With a sigh, he gave up and tried to figure out where his phone was. As he looked down into the floor, suddenly a small part of his dream came back to him, and he sat up immediately, trying to remember the rest of it.

A strand of brown hair fell into Oliver's vision, loosened by his sudden movement. He had forgotten he still appeared as Gumi, or more accurately, Gwen. Gumi...

Oliver squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his hands to his forehead, wondering what was going on. If the voice in his dream really did belong to who he thought it did, he couldn't imagine how she had ended up in his dream. He hadn't ever heard her speak, much less carry a whole conversation.

"What's the point?" he asked out loud in desperation. Suddenly the phrase that had woken him up came back to him.

"_So where will you go?_"

"The ocean?" he wondered aloud. "Is there one near here?"

He shook his head, thinking himself silly for asking himself questions that he didn't know the answers to. "I really am like a homeless person now," he mused to himself, remembering Gumi's worries when they had first arrived. His phone made a beeping noise from the ground, signifying a text. "A homeless person with a phone and tons of money," he added with a shrug.

Oliver stared at the phone for a while before taking in what it said. Apparently everyone had come to the conclusions that first, the Vocaloids were at risk of being shut down and having information stolen from them, therefore precautions were being taken, and second, Oliver was to stay put until the suspect's family returned, then use any means necessary to get information from them on where the man might be, specifically from the man's wife.

The last instruction made Oliver slightly nervous. What exactly was he supposed to do if the woman didn't just tell him what he wanted to know right away? It wasn't like he was going to resort to using force. That was definitely not his strong suit.

After thinking about a reply for a while, he finally resorted to a simple 'okay' to let Neru know he had received the message. After idly staring out of the window at the sun peeking out from between clouds for a while, he remembered his earlier troubles.

Pulling out his phone again, he texted Neru quickly.

"_Is there a beach nearby?_"

Oliver didn't know why he was going to such lengths to figure out his dream, but he didn't really have anything better to do at the moment. After all, according to Steven, his family wouldn't be back for another day at the very least, if he was telling the truth.

There was a reply almost instantly on his phone. "_Yes, actually, Rin says the concert performers were going to visit it after the concert but of course that didn't happen. Apparently it's not very far, so Len's going to write down some instructions and I'll give them to you in a few minutes._"

* * *

><p>"He asked about a beach..." Neru had announced to Rin, both of them now human versions of their Vocaloid selves.<p>

"Ooh, we were going to go to a beach after the concert!" Rin cheered.

"So do you know how to get there?" Neru asked.

"Ha, no, why do you think we had a guide?"

Neru sighed and started texting.

"I think Meiko actually knew how to get there because it was pretty simple," Len volunteered. "I can go ask her and then write the instructions down."

Neru nodded and didn't stop texting.

"Y'know Len, I think your voice is deeper as a human," Rin said, grinning. Len gave no response except an annoyed look as he left the room to find Meiko quickly. Rin playfully stuck her tongue out at him and continued talking. "Why does Oliver even want to go to the beach at a time like this?"

"No idea," Neru mumbled.

"Well, I guess he doesn't have anything else to do right now," Rin decided with a shrug.

"Do you think everyone got bored of following the texts?" Neru asked. "I mean, only yesterday, there was at least one person besides us in the room like every five minutes. Not that I miss that. It was sometimes annoying."

"I'm not sure..." Rin said.

After Neru thought for a moment, she came up with a reason. "I think they're probably nervous and trying to adjust to the thought of having to actually start their own searches. I mean, you've been to concerts before, but try to imagine if the first time you actually went out into the world was with very little idea of what was going to happen, and the fate of Miku rested on your shoulders. It seems kind of scary," Neru said.

"Oh, maybe Oliver's going to the beach to relax," Rin suggested. "I mean, he just lost Gumi-"

"The circumstances were not in Oliver's favor," Len interrupted, walking back into the room with a piece of paper in his hand.

"Fine, he couldn't protect Gumi," Rin corrected herself. "And so now he's probably feeling bad about it. I heard that the beach is a fun place," she finished cheerfully.

"That's possible," Neru said, reading the note Len had handed her and typing it into the phone as concisely as she could.

"Wait a minute, Oliver supposedly looks like Gumi now, right?" Rin asked, a smirk of mischief making its way onto her face.

"Yeah..." Neru replied slowly.

"He should wear a bikini," Rin said with a giggle. Her laughter got louder as she continued to think about it. "That would be so funny," she said, trying to stifle her laughter. "He'd be so embarrassed."

Len sighed. "That wouldn't be funny, that would be awkward. You know he'd have to...nevermind," he said with a shake of his head. "Oliver just did this so that Gumi might have a chance of being set free. Not for you to imagine him being an embarassed girl in a bikini."

Though Len was trying to be serious, there was no calming Rin down at this point. Even Len had to supress a smile at how amused she was. Tears were nearly coming out of her eyes.

"Oh dear, calm down Rin..."

Rin finally stopped laughing long enough to look at the speaker. It was Luka, who was staying in the spare meeting room, and had heard Rin's noise. "Sorry Luka, was I disturbing you?" Rin apologized.

"No, but I am a bit curious to know why you're laughing so hard," Luka said with a smile.

Rin reddened in the cheeks a bit. "Oh...see...you know how Oliver looks like Gumi now?" she started, twisting a strand of hair around her finger. "Yeah well Oliver wants to go to the beach, so I was imagining him as Gumi, wearing a bikini and being embarrassed," she finished with a grin. Seeing Luka's expression, she giggled slightly. "You just had to be there."

Len rolled his eyes. "There was nowhere to be, bright one. That was your imagination, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, sometimes I forget the difference between reality and thoughts," Rin replied sarcastically, giving Len a sideways glance from her seat.

Luka's smile grew a bit as she observed the two friends. She was surprised at how well they were able to cope with Miku's absense. She even wondered if they actually acknowledged that Miku was in danger. Luka didn't want to be the one to ask, though.

"Hey, apparently Oliver found it," Neru spoke up.

"A bikini?" Rin asked.

Neru gave her a funny look. "No...the beach. Anyway, he says thanks. And he also says he's not going to wear a bikini."

Rin's eyes widened. "You told him?" she cried. "Oh, now he's going to hate me, and he doesn't even know me very well."

"It's okay Rin, I'll wear a bikini for you," Len said, putting on a serious expression.

"Really?"

"No."

* * *

><p>Oliver had found the beach to be a nice place, with few visitors, simply because the water was so cold. He didn't have any intentions of getting in the water of course, so he walked along the beach until he found a place that was adequately isolated from the few others that were enjoying dry land.<p>

He sat down and drew his knees up to his chest, squinting out at the water that was reflecting the harsh sunlight of the morning hours. "Are you out there, Miku?"

* * *

><p><strong>Oh Rin and her imagination. Actually, that was my imagination, but still xD <strong>

** Yeah so I'm hoping to have a dream for each character. And the dreams are usually little hints about Miku's situation or just extra bits of the character's past/personality.**

**By the way, I actually was paranoid about putting a beach in here, since I don't really live in the setting, so I researched a beach. The one I was referring to is called Ocean Beach, in San Francisco ^.^**


	12. The Ineffectivity of Waiting

**What's this? I've come back? I didn't completely abandon the story? Amazing, right? Yeah, I'm back. Here's a new chapter in the story. FYI, it's really hard to continue a long story after putting it down for almost a year. So I just gave up on some aspects of the story (like the dream stuff) in an effort to make the writing process a little easier on myself. So sorry about about any plot holes, hopefully it shouldn't affect the main plot too much. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Gumi opened her eyes slowly. She had to blink several times before she could recall even the slightest memory from the previous day. The main thing that confused her was that she could have sworn she had been kidnapped, but she felt perfectly refreshed.<p>

Kidnapped.

It hit her harder than if she hadn't known previously. For whatever reason, though, she couldn't feel it in herself to be alarmed. Fear would be a natural response. But she only felt dread, and dread not for herself but for the rest of her team, if you could call it that.

She sat up—in bed, she was in a bed—and rubbed her eye. She had been asleep, right? How did she ever fall asleep after being kidnapped? The thoughts puzzled her, and she shook her head, wondering if she was dreaming.

A blonde piece of hair came into her line of vision and she decided she was.

_What is wrong with me?_ she thought, tugging at the hair. It was attached to her head, alright. She looked around, trying to figure out her surroundings. She was in a small room, the sole piece of furniture being the bed she was sitting on.

"I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming, I'm-" she had begun to chant to herself as she got up and stepped around the end of the bed, but realized quickly that her voice was deeper. It scared her, but she shook her head and reminded herself it wasn't real. She walked towards the door, wondering if she could wake herself up. Despite the thought of waking up, Gumi walked towards the door, wanting to know what was behind it.

"I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming, I'm—" The door was locked. Gumi pulled again, wondering if it was just stuck. Nope. The door was not going to open. Gumi was trapped.

"Okay, well if I'm just dreaming, I'll wake up, and I'll be fine." Gumi sat down on the edge of the bed, finding a small comfort in talking aloud, even though the voice didn't belong to her. However, she didn't completely believe she was dreaming.

Looking down at her lap, she started with the sudden realization that those were _definitely _not her legs. She jumped up, looking down the best she could at her torso. Yep, definitely not hers, or any grown woman's, for that matter.

Then she froze. She reached up to grab a strand of hair again, thinking about the length and color, and then recalled the way Oliver looked and sounded as a human. "Great," she said. "Just great."

Not a moment later, the door slammed open and Gumi jumped. A man came in, and Gumi could see two others behind him, blocking the exit. Upon seeing Gumi's abnormal appearance, the man who had just come in whirled around to face the other two.

"Who is this?!" He yelled at them, and they cowered, looking like abused animals.

"It was supposed to be the girl…" one of them volunteered.

The man sighed. "I _know_ that, I'm asking why it obviously ISN'T."

Both men shrugged. The man turned back to Gumi and eyed her suspiciously. "You and the others are capable of some strange things. It doesn't matter. You probably know just as much." He turned to his colleagues. "We'll take him along."

Gumi stayed silent as the man walked out of the room, muttering "How do you grab the wrong person?" as the door was closed behind him.

"This is great," Gumi whispered.

* * *

><p>Oliver still sat huddled in the sand by the sea. He had thought through his situation a hundred times, and he still couldn't see any logical hope. He also had too many questions he didn't want to find the answers to. Was the wife in on the plan? Where did Gumi even go? Was she in a fatal situation? Oliver almost regretted switching bodies at when that thought occurred to him.<p>

He began trying to walk through it logically. Miku had been kidnapped. The number one suspect at this point was Steven, who appeared to have made off with Gumi. He either somehow managed to figure out who she was, or there was some other reason motivating him.

Since he had taken one non-human and one human, it was most likely that he wasn't after the being, he was after the information that each one held. Or at least that was all Oliver could come up with.

He sighed. What did Vocaloids know personally that wasn't open to the rest of the world? He could come up with nothing. The only other reason to kidnap one would be maybe to ransom her back to the company for a high price. That didn't explain Gumi's disappearance though; they had no proof to show who she was, and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to explain why she was human.

Oliver stood up. Regardless of the motivation behind whatever had happened, he needed to get back to Jennifer and figure out where her husband was. But she wouldn't be back until the weekend was over.

"This situation couldn't be any worse," he mumbled. "Gumi's gone, we're human, we have the wrong bodies, we're halfway across the world from our friends, time is short but there's no source of information, and when Jennifer does come back, it'll be completely weird and suspicious of me to show up at her door again." Oliver rubbed his temples. "Just how dangerous could this 'mission' get?"

Deciding he needed to go ahead and find a place to stay, he asked Neru to find a decently-priced hotel he could stay at for the time being. At this point, he just wanted a safe, quiet place, and it wasn't alone at that stranger's house. He would stay locked up in one room for the entire weekend if it meant no more trouble. He might welcome the opportunity to go back home and forget the whole thing if it weren't for Gumi. Miku had a lot of willing friends; that was obvious. Oliver had no personal attachment to her. But Gumi was different. Oliver had seen her, spoken to her, watched her be happy, smart, and afraid at different times. She needed to go home as much as he did.

As he made final arrangements to stay in a hotel over the weekend, he resolved himself to figure out where Gumi, or at least Steven, had gone by any means possible. He wouldn't be stupid about it though. He'd have to be careful in the way he questioned Jennifer. He was a little bit glad that he looked like Gumi now—it'd probably be easier to gain a woman's trust _as_ a woman, as much as he cringed at the thought.

Once settled into a room with nothing but his money and phone, Oliver lay in bed. He covered his left eye with his hand and stared at the ceiling, squeezing both eyes shut after a moment. He opened them again and moved his hand way. There was nothing left to it but waiting and thinking.

* * *

><p>"Oliver's waiting in a safer location now," Neru informed Rin, who was playing a game of checkers against Len. "He's determined to find out where they're taking Gumi. I don't know where in the world she might be, but I'm dying to know what this whole kidnapping problem is about. These aren't just random items that are being stolen—they're <em>people<em>, with feelings and stuff."

"Mhmm. It's really sad," Rin said, pouting. "I want to go help."

"What if you get stolen? You're the same demographic as the other two kidnapped Vocaloids," Len pointed out. "It'd be dangerous for you too."

"What if I took a gun or something? I could shoot them in the foot and run away."

Len gave Rin a funny look. "I don't even try to understand what goes through your mind, but that's one of the weirder things you've said."

"Well, I mean, I was just thinking about the message I gave everyone without really knowing what I was saying. You know, after we woke up from being temporarily shut down? I was programmed with 'precautions' or something. What if that meant I could like shoot fire from my fingertips or something. That would be terrific. But now it wouldn't work, I bet, since I'm human. So I'd need a gun."

Len gave her a skeptical glare. "I don't think that's what you were programmed with. But you're right, whatever you _did_ have is gone. Maybe it was just like a self-destruct type thing if you had gotten stolen, but instead of blowing up you'd just shut down."

"I don't care anyway. I just want to go somewhere," Rin whined. "I wanna be useful. Playing checkers is not useful," she said, flicking one of the pieces off the board and accidentally hitting Len. She suppressed a giggle.

He scowled at her and turned to Neru. "We're going to send another team out soon, aren't we? Oliver can't do everything. He's basically done his part in the United States. Once he has information, we can send out possibly more search couples."

Neru shrugged apologetically. "I know just about as much as you, honestly. That sounds about right though. Depending on how specific the information is that Oliver manages to get, we may only send out one team. And that's assuming he gets any information at all."

Rin slumped in her seat. "Well, he will get information. Because we're gonna find Gumi, and somehow find Miku, too," she said resolutely. "And I'm gonna be in the next group that goes out to search."

"Luka would have to approve of that," Neru pointed out.

"Right," Rin said. She leaned forward in her seat, craning towards the door. "LUKA!" she yelled.

The pink-turned-blonde-haired girl rushed into the room, along with Meiko. "Is everything okay?" Luka asked.

"Oh, yeah," Rin mumbled, somewhat embarrassed for having worried them. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to be the next team to go search."

"Have you put yourself in charge of such matters?" Meiko asked sternly, but her face was amused. In the next moment, she smiled apologetically at the twins. "I know you want to help Miku however you can. But until we have more information, we can't make any decisions."

"If he gets a location, and the circumstances don't suit any particular group more than another, can we be next?" Rin asked hopefully. Meiko sighed and glanced at Luka, who gave her a half-smile in return.

"It's dangerous, Rin. We'll see."

Rin folded her arms on the table and rested her chin on her wrist. "Sometimes I just forget how worrisome this really is. I mean, it's probably because I don't want to think about it. I don't know how big the world is. I've been to big cities for concerts, but I can't imagine there being thousands of those cities, all over the place, that we might have to search in." She sighed and idly traced an imaginary arc along the table with her fingertip.

Len folded his arms in the same way so that his eyes were level with Rin's and looked at her sadly. She shifted her gaze to meet his for a moment. To anyone watching, it was a melancholy moment of some understanding between the twins that no one else could penetrate, an odd form of comfort that they wished they could feel. Silence fell softly on the room.

In another room, Mai and Eri sat on the edge of Eri's bed next to each other, mindlessly swinging their feet side to side, so that they would tap their own feet together, and then tap each other's, then their own, and so on. Riku was sitting in front of them on the floor with Subaru, hugging his knees to his chest. Kiyoteru leaned his back against the wall near the door, watching the four Utauloids vacantly stare into space. He was the only Vocaloid-turned-human in the room.

The five had agreed to share the space for lack of other companions. Everyone else seemed to have their own clique, so they could have one. Unfortunately, none of them had anything to say. Or do. So they simply thought.

Eri stared at the ground. Mai stared at the door. Riku stared at the girls' feet. Subaru stared at the floor. Kiyoteru shifted his gaze from one to the next.

"I feel pretty useless," Riku finally mumbled. It only echoed the thoughts of everyone in the room. They all felt useless.

"I thought we might all search in different places at once," Eri said, only halfway beyond her daze. "I know it's wiser to wait for a lead, but at least then I'd feel like I was _doing_ something."

"We really could have stayed home," Mai muttered.

"Don't think like that," Kiyoteru said, drawing the eyes of the two girls. Eri bit her bottom lip uneasily; Mai was unmoved.

"We probably could have." Subaru half-closed his eyes, as if speaking made him tired. "Someone else could find Miku, and we'd never be missed. But isn't that exactly what you hate, Eri?" He looked at her almost coldly, but not without a flicker of genuine sadness as he moved his gaze back to the ground. "We'd never be missed."

"There's going to be something for us to do though," Kiyoteru insisted, "soon enough."

Eri was too lost in thought to respond. Subaru was right. And she hated it. Perhaps no one would miss her even if she were to magically fly back home right at that instant. Maybe Mai would notice. Would Mai even care? What had her purpose been anyway? She had only suggested the idea. She didn't need to come.

"Maybe it's better that I'm useless anyway," Riku said, as if nothing else had been said since he first spoke. "I might mess something up if I were actually important."

"Hey, you're not that incompetent," Subaru said, glancing at Riku. "You're bound to have some negative thoughts, in a situation like this." He was speaking to everyone now. "You just…have to give it some time. You'll get to the end of the story eventually, however it turns out. And since you're part of it, you can't really expect to get to the end without anything exciting happening, can you?"

He was trying to be positive. Eri knew. It was different from Kiyoteru's remarks. He was naturally optimistic, it seemed, so his words were simply natural barriers he had planted in his own mind to keep the negativity out. Subaru was more thoughtful than he let on, usually. He had planned out his statements, and referenced a story on purpose, and it worked. Eri longed to be a part of an exciting story. Subaru knew.

"Thanks, but as long as I sit here and do nothing, I can't really imagine that happening," Riku said.

"Sounds exactly like you," Eri said to Mai, nudging her lightly.

"Normally I might ask what you mean by that, but I don't even care enough about anything right now to even deal with it," Mai replied darkly.

"Maybe it'd be best if we just went back to keeping our thoughts to ourselves," Kiyoteru suggested.

And so silence fell heavily on the room.

* * *

><p>"So you're sure this idea has potential?"<p>

"Of course. They wouldn't have paid so much if it weren't worth the investment."

"Paid so much? What were they paying for, exactly? I thought you said this was an experimental development."

"They needed the model to study, of course. Lucky for you, I have another one flying in tomorrow that I might be willing to lend to you."

"And she's the same as the one the Japanese have?"

"Yes. In fact, she's a newer model, and therefore has superior technology."

"We'll see it when we believe it."

"But you like the idea?"

"If it were to work, it's quite the money-maker, not to mention a huge advancement. We only need to make sure we do it before the Japanese."

Laughter resounded throughout the room.


	13. Towards the Common Goal

**New chapter, enjoy~**

* * *

><p>The weekend came and went, nearly driving the Vocaloids and Utauloids insane in the process. They all knew they had to wait. Each at some point thought of Gumi, and was reminded that they weren't the worst off.<p>

Gumi, in turn, thought of Miku. Gumi's weekend was slightly more eventful, but she remained unhurt for the time being. After being left alone in the room for what seemed like forever but probably wasn't more than a couple of hours, more people came in and blindfolded her, then forcefully led her somewhere. She soon figured out that she was in a car, and wherever they were going, the ride gradually got bumpier.

After that ride, two people, presumably men, had held her arms and led her to yet another seat. She didn't hear many voices, which made sense, since it would be silly to bring a blindfolded hostage into public. After another wait, Gumi recognized where she was again: she was riding in what felt like a plane.

She didn't dare talk. Nobody else spoke, and she figured that her silence so far was one of the reasons she was only blindfolded. Of course, for all she knew, she was being sent on a solo flight into the ocean. Then she recalled the strange men talking about her "knowing just as much" and wondered if she might be taken somewhere worse. She tried not to think about things like that.

Nonetheless, Gumi had completely given up on trying to keep track of time. She only knew that in one moment, the plane or whatever vehicle she was in was descending, and in the next moment, she was hit hard in the head, and the pain was the last thing she remembered.

* * *

><p>Oliver hesitated before getting out of the car. He was in front of Jennifer's house. She was home, he knew. He took a deep breath. This was for Miku, or at the very least Gumi. He opened the door and got out.<p>

After knocking on the door, the seconds ticked by in an annoyingly slow fashion, until Oliver nearly couldn't stand it. However, Jennifer finally opened the door, and Oliver blinked. Jennifer's first reaction was vital.

She smiled politely as soon as she recognized who she assumed to be "Gwen." Oliver was too busy thinking to smile back. This lady obviously wasn't surprised at all to see a kidnapped girl. So she had no knowledge of the kidnapping. Oliver's heart sank. Maybe she didn't even know where her husband was. Maybe her husband had lied. But Oliver pushed those thoughts away.

"Hello, Gwen, was it? Did you leave something here?"

"Uh, no," Oliver said, shaking his head, "I just…" he thought quickly. "Well, it's more about the research. May I…possibly come inside? I don't want to be rude," he stuttered as the woman moved aside and motioned for him to come inside.

Oliver hesitantly walked inside and turned as Jennifer passed him to move towards a chair in the main room. She sat down and nodded towards a chair across from her and Oliver quickly went and sat in it.

"Is your husband busy?" Jennifer asked as Oliver sat down.

"Oh…um, no. I mean he's working on a project…but I just came back because I know he's really desperate to get the best information possible and I was wondering if there's anything that _your_ husband is involved with that might be useful?" Oliver bit his lip, hoping that worked. "The article he posts are widely read by Vocaloid fans and any information that might make the world more excited about Vocaloid would be great."

Jennifer looked indecisive. "I'm really afraid I shouldn't tell you more…"

"If you wanted me to pay you for it, I could," Oliver tried, attempting to plead with his eyes. It wasn't exactly a manly thing to do, but the times were desperate.

"No no, that's not necessary." Jennifer was silent for a moment. "I really want to tell you…" she finally said, "I just don't know if Steven would want me to. He didn't specify whether it was completely secret or not and if he didn't tell you himself then I don't know…"

"Nothing at all? Is he visiting someone important about something? I don't have to know what it's about, really." Oliver was starting to feel pushy, but he really had very little to lose as long as this woman's convictions were his biggest obstacle.

Jennifer looked uncertain. "This is all I can say. You know he's a linguist. You know he works with Vocaloid. Lately, he's been…" she paused, then resolved to continue, lowering her voice, "he's been getting involved with more important things, and the trip he was so glad to get is to Shanghai. If you do expose this information, please don't really mention us individually…just…"

Oliver nodded. "I understand." He did his best to remain calm on the inside, but he wanted so badly to immediately tell the others immediately that it was very hard not to do so. "It'll be very speculative, based on a small bit of truth by an anonymous source."

"Thank you," the woman said, looking relieved.

"No, thank you," Oliver said, finally feeling sincere. "That's all I'll ask of you." He stood up, and Jennifer did the same in order to show him to the door.

"Good luck with your article, or whatever it was you and your husband were working on. Researchers, you said?"

"Uh, yeah," Oliver said, edging towards the door. He didn't want this lady to think too hard about it. "Goodbye," he said.

The lady opened the door and smiled politely. Oliver returned the smile, knowing Gumi probably would. The door shut after him, and he was in the clear.

He immediately ran to the car and pulled out his phone. "Shanghai, China," he sent, knowing that his part of the search was over for the time being.

* * *

><p>"Are you hungry at all? Do you want anything to eat?"<p>

"Uh, sure?"

The man who had asked the question studied Gumi for a moment. "Interesting," he said to himself.

Gumi watched the man say something to his assistant in a strange language before continuing to take in her surroundings. She had just woken up, and she didn't recognize where she was at all. Of course, she wasn't familiar with many places, but the fact that it had taken so long to get here and that the people in the room looked a little…different…made her nervous. There was absolutely no furniture besides the chair she was sitting in, and for the time being, Gumi didn't exactly feel threatened.

The silence remained until the assistant brought back a plate of weird bread, and Gumi eyed it suspiciously. The man spoke again.

"So, tell me, how do you appear so human? Is it some kind of advanced experiment? New technology?"

"Uh...I don't know what you're talking about." Gumi swallowed. Adrenaline raced through her, although it appeared that nobody intended to hurt her at the moment.

"You're the Vocaloid Oliver, are you not?"

"I don't know," Gumi said, believing that was the best course of action. Of course, her logic in these situations tended to be flawed, but she was trying.

The man sighed. "So are you a singing android or not?"

"I'm obviously a human."

"I have reasons to believe that you are actually not, and neither was your partner, Gumi."

"I don't know who that is and I also think your sources are sketchy." Gumi wasn't sure why she was lying, but it seemed to her that people who kidnap you are not trustworthy.

The man turned to the side. "Ah, perhaps they are. But let me tell you something, Oliver," he said, turning back to Gumi. "You're rather safe right now. I want information, and you have it. All you need to do is give it to me, and both of us will be happier. So it's probably in your best interest to cooperate."

"Well I'm not Oliver," Gumi said. At least it was the truth.

The man sighed again. "I don't care who you are, then. Tell me what you know about Vocaloids."

"They're singers," Gumi said.

"So you know something?"

"Of course I do. I'm a pretty big fan of all things Vocaloid-related. Especially the girls, yeah?" Gumi raised her eyebrows, hoping she was convincing.

The man didn't look too convinced. "So do you know about their technology?"

Gumi opened her mouth to answer but then stopped. Of course she did. But it was probably better not to say anything right away. "Why do you need to know?"

"It doesn't matter why I need to know; you just need to answer."

Gumi crossed her arms. "I want information, and you have it," she mimicked. "It looks like we're at a standstill here."

"You're not exactly the one in a position of power. I could leave you locked up here forever, or until you answer me."

"But it would be so much easier just to tell me why you need the information, and then get your answer immediately, wouldn't it?"

The man stared at Gumi, and she stared back. Finally he turned around and headed towards the door. "I'll come back later and see if you're feeling any differently," he said, before he and his assistant exited the room and shut the door.

There was a small click of the lock on the door, and then silence. Gumi looked around. "Where in the world am I?" she asked herself. "Oh well," she said, resigning herself to her situation. "I'm not important anymore. Hopefully somebody else will find a new lead."

Even as the words left her mouth, Gumi's mind was at work. If she could manage to get more information out of this man than he got out of her, and then managed to escape, the Vocaloids might have a huge advantage. For all she knew, Miku was locked up in the room right next to her. Gumi smiled. As long as she was stuck here, she might as well try to do something helpful.

* * *

><p>"WOAH WOAH WOAH WOAH WOAH!"<p>

Rin practically threw the phone at Neru. Len quickly grabbed Rin and put his hand over her mouth. "You were actually serious!" he said, mocking Rin's voice, but at a lower volume.

Rin jerked away. "If you don't want me to yell, just say so," she said. "Sheesh."

"You wouldn't listen," he said, and she shrugged.

"Miku might be in China, man," Rin said. "Did you tell anyone else yet?"

"Have you seen me get up and walk out of this room since receiving the message?" Neru asked, raising an eyebrow. "But you probably alerted everyone within a 100-mile radius that something happened."

"And what is that?" Meiko asked, appearing in the doorway. Miriam and Haku followed her into the room.

"Oliver got word of Gumi's location, or at least that of the presumable kidnapper of both her and Miku," Neru explained. "Shanghai, China."

"I'm going, I'm going, I'm going to China," Rin sang.

"China," Meiko repeated. "That's an interesting development. As far as I know, there isn't anything related to Vocaloids there right now."

"Well maybe they want to make their own Vocaloids," Len suggested.

"They don't need to steal one for that," Haku pointed out.

"What if they want the formula for the absolute perfect design?" Rin asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Miku is pretty popular."

"That definitely doesn't explain why Gumi got kidnapped, especially since she looks like a human right now," Len said.

"They could be trying to stop our attempts to save Miku," Rin argued.

"It's still a puzzle as to how they recognized Gumi or Oliver," Meiko said. "But all the guesses in the world won't save anyone right now, so we need to start taking action."

"Right, I'll go get Luka," Rin said, starting to march towards the door.

"Not so fast, Rin," Meiko said. "We still need to cooperate as a team, and that means holding a meeting to review our options."

Rin became visibly disappointed. "Fine, I'll go get everybody." She shuffled out the door and into the hall, and she could be heard knocking on doors and calling the others out.

"I'm very worried about Gumi," Meiko said, once Rin was gone. "She isn't known to handle stressful situations very well, but—"

"Then why did we take her?" Neru asked, squinting at Meiko.

"—She'll do anything to help a friend. I just don't know how far she'll go, and if she's putting herself in any unnecessary danger," Meiko finished, looking at Neru.

The others were starting to file into the room and take seats around the table. Meiko looked around, and after seeing that everyone was there, stood at the head of the table.

"As you may or may not have heard, depending on how vocal Rin was, Oliver has given us some very valuable information. A new location of interest appears to be Shanghai, China, and we need another pair to go out and try to find information. This team will need to be ready to put themselves in danger; you saw what happened to Oliver and Gumi. You also need to be able to keep your mind on your task, since there are many distractions now. A strange country, Gumi may or may not be there, Miku may or may not be there, and there may be people already on the lookout for more humanoid Vocaloids. I don't know how they recognized Gumi and Oliver, but they did, and that's troubling.

So I need you to try to decide amongst yourselves who the best pick is to embark on this trip. Be smart, and don't be selfish. This isn't about any of you," Meiko reminded everyone. "This is about trying to rescue Miku, and hopefully Gumi."

Rin was struck by these last words, and waited a moment before hesitantly speaking. "I'd really like to go," she said quietly.

"I'm worried, Rin," Luka said. "I don't know if there are some sort of unseen markers on Vocaloids that stay with them even after they become humans, but if there's any chance that we might be found out, I don't want to take that risk."

"So you're saying we give up?" Rin asked indignantly.

"Vocaloids aren't the only ones here, Rin," Luka said pointedly. "I say that a pair of Utauloids should go."

"The only pair that is strictly Utauloid is Subaru and Riku," Kiyoteru said.

"Then they're my pick," Luka said.

"I'm not really going to argue with her logic," Kiyoteru said, glancing at the two boys.

"I'm fine with it," Mai said.

"Is their supervisor fine with that?" Miriam asked, looking at Lola. Lola nodded, and the rest of the group murmured agreement. Rin stared at her lap.

"Can anybody think of a valid reason that they shouldn't go?" Meiko asked. "I think Luka is right, and that they are the lowest-risk pair, but if someone has a stronger reason against that, please speak up."

Nobody spoke.

"Then it's settled. Riku, Subaru, and Lola, and Miriam, please stay here. Everyone else is free to go." With that, Meiko walked over to where the two Utauloids were sitting, both looking nervous, as everyone else got up to leave.

"Well, it's good that we've got another lead, don't you think?" Kiyoteru asked Eri and Mai as they left together. "Of course, now both of my roommates will be gone, so that'll be a little lonely…" he trailed off.

"I just don't see what we're planning to accomplish here," Mai said. "I mean, I'm pretty sure this place they're talking about isn't small. And think about it—neither one of them speaks Chinese. They can barely speak English."

"Why didn't you mention that before everybody agreed to send them?" Eri asked.

"Eh, nobody here knows Chinese. They've got as good a chance as anybody. I'm just saying that anybody's chance would be low," Mai replied.

"You're right, it's pretty hopeless," Eri said as the three friends walked into the girls' bedroom. "But until we all agree to just sit on our hands and do nothing about it, I'm still going to act like we have a chance, okay?"

Mai huffed. "I don't see what you're so positive for. We could actually sit on our hands right now and it wouldn't change a thing, see?" To prove her point, Mai sat down on the floor with her hands under her legs.

Eri looked at Kiyoteru in exasperation, and he shrugged helplessly.

"Some inside information would be really nice right now, but I don't know that we can trust anybody," Eri said, partially to herself.

"We'll find her, I'm sure of it," Kiyoteru said. Both girls looked at him skeptically, and after a moment Eri sat down on her hands, smiling bitterly.

"That makes one of us."


End file.
